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The LSU Tigers defeated Iowa 102-85 in the 2023 women’s NCAA Tournament championship game Sunday in Dallas, winning their first national basketball title in school history.
The victory makes head coach Kim Mulkey the first women’s coach to win national championships at two different schools. Said Mulkey: “Coaches coach a lifetime and this is the fourth time I’ve been blessed. Never in the history of LSU basketball, men or women, has (anybody) ever played for a championship.” Mulkey now has the third-most titles of all time behind Geno Auriemma’s 11 and Pat Summitt’s eight. Mulkey has never lost in a championship game. She said: “My tears are tears of joy .. I’m so happy for everybody back home in Louisiana.”
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the Associated Press national player of the year, had one of the greatest individual performances in NCAA Tournament history, finishing with 30 points. The guard from Iowa set the NCAA record for points in a tournament — 191 — passing the 177 that Sheryl Swoopes scored in 1993 when Texas Tech won the title.
The 102 points scored by LSU broke the previous high for a championship game, surpassing the 97 points that Texas scored against Southern California in 1986. Jasmine Carson scored 22 points, Alexis Morris added 21 and Angel Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (34-2). Reese, who was honored as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, said after the game: “It’s no one-man show around here. When I go down, the next man is up. Every single time, every time I go out or Alexis (Morris) goes out, everybody always comes to step up.”
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said: “They really played well, they were ready to go. They did a great job. I’m just so proud of my team. This is brutal, it’s really tough to walk out of that locker room today and not be able to coach Monika (Czinano) and McKenna (Warnock) again. I’m very thankful for the season we had and don’t want to take anything away from that.”
Editorial credit: University of College / Shutterstock.com
