Iowa guard Caitlin Clark steps back before shooting a 3-pointer while defended by Louisville guard Morgan Jones in a regional final Sunday in Seattle. Clark made eight 3-pointers while scoring 41 points, to go with 12 assists and 10 rebounds, in a 97-83 win. Caean Couto/Associated Press
SEATTLE — Caitlin Clark put on a show with 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to help No. 2 seed Iowa beat fifth-seeded Louisville 97-83 on Sunday and send the Hawkeyes to their first women’s Final Four in 30 years.
The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’s been all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas for the women’s NCAA Tournament national semifinals on Friday night. The Seattle 4 Region champion will face the winner of the Greenville 1 region that has South Carolina playing Maryland on Monday night.
“I thought our team played really well. That’s what it’s all about. I was going to give it every single thing I had,” said Clark, who was the region’s most outstanding player. “When I came here I said I wanted to take this program to the Final Four, and all you’ve got to do is dream. And all you’ve got to do is believe and work your butt off to get there. That’s what I did, and that’s what our girls did and that’s what our coaches did and we’re going to Dallas, baby.”
Iowa (30-6) hadn’t been to the Final Four since Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer led the team to its lone appearance in 1993. Before Sunday, the team had only been to one other Elite Eight – in 2019 – since the Final Four team.
Clark had the 11th triple-double of her career and the 19th in NCAA Tournament history. She posted the first 30- and 40-point triple-double in March Madness history.
“We might not be the most athletic, we might not be the fastest, we might not be the best defenders, but we play for one another. That’s going to take you really far,” Clark said. “That’s what it’s all about. Our circle is tight and more than anything we’re each others best friends. That will carry you a long way.”
Trailing by five at the half, Louisville cut its deficit to 48-47 before Clark and the Hawkeyes scored the next 11 points as part of a 17-6 run to blow the game open. That brought most of the pro-Iowa crowd of nearly 12,000 fans to their feet.
Louisville was down 22 with just under 6 minutes left before going on a 13-1 run to get within 86-76 with 2:10 left. The Cardinals could get no closer.
Clark left the game with 22.7 seconds left and hugged Coach Lisa Bluder.
After the game, Clark paraded around the court holding the regional trophy high above her head, delighting the thousands of fans who stuck around to celebrate their Hawkeyes.
Hailey Van Lith scored 27 points and Olivia Cochran had 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead Louisville (26-12).
Clark hit eight of the Hawkeyes’ season-high 16 3-pointers, including a few from just past the March Madness logo. It was a school record for the Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament, blowing past the previous mark of 13 against Gonzaga in 2011.
Louisville scored the first eight points of the game, forcing Iowa to call timeout. Then Clark got going. The 6-foot junior scored the first seven points for the Hawkeyes and finished the opening quarter with 15 points. When she wasn’t scoring, she found open teammates with precision passes.
She also had four assists in the first 10 minutes, accounting for every one of Iowa’s points as the Hawkeyes led 25-21.
Clark continued her mastery in the second quarter, hitting shots from all over the court, including a few of her famous long-distance 3s from near the logo.
Louisville was able to stay in the game, thanks to Van Lith. After scoring the first six points of the game, she went quiet before getting going late in the second quarter. She had 11 points in the second quarter as the Cardinals found themselves down 48-43 at the break.
Clark had 22 points and eight assists in the opening 20 minutes en route to the fourth-highest scoring total all-time in a NCAA regional.
LSU’s Angel Reese drives against Miami’s Kyla Oldacre during their regional final Sunday in Greenville, S.C. LSU advanced to the final four with a 54-42 win. Mic Smith/Associated Press
LSU 54, MIAMI 42: Angel Reese had 18 rebounds and LSU returned to the women’s Final Four for the first time in 15 years by beating in Greenville, South Carolina, carrying a rapid rise under second-year coach Kim Mulkey straight to the sport’s biggest stage.
Alexis Morris scored 21 points and Reese added 13 for the third-seeded Tigers (32-2), who asserted control of a grinding, defense-first game. LSU’s length caused Miami problems even with Reese – an Associated Press first-team All-American – having a brutal shooting day, and the Tigers offset their offensive hiccups by dominating the glass.
LSU shot 30.2% and went 1 for 12 from 3-point range, including misses on its first nine attempts. But Miami was even worse from 3, missing all 15 tries.
The third-seeded Tigers finished with a 49-35 rebounding edge behind Reese, which led to a 15-3 edge in second-chance points – all desperately needed on a day with rebounds readily available.
Mulkey is in her second season at LSU, bringing a resume with three NCAA titles from her time at Baylor. She had cautioned that the Tigers were overachieving when they’re still strengthening a program for the long haul.
Maybe so, but they’re ahead of schedule after pushing their way through the NCAA Tournament’s Greenville 2 Region. The Tigers head to Dallas to face Ohio State or Virginia Tech in Friday’s national semifinals.
Reese missed her first nine shots and didn’t manage her first basket until early in the third quarter, finishing the day 3 for 15 from the field. But she went 7 of 10 from the free-throw line and contributed four assists, three steals and two blocks.
Jasmyne Roberts scored 22 points for ninth-seeded Miami (22-13), which took a wild ride to the regional final. The Hurricanes rallied from a huge deficit to beat Oklahoma State in the first round, stunned No. 1 seed Indiana on the road, then beat Villanova on Friday in the Sweet 16 despite blowing a 21-point lead.
The last win set off an emotional on-court celebration for Katie Meier’s bunch, which had played with toughness and athleticism to get to its first Elite Eight. The Hurricanes were trying to match the record for lowest-seeded team ever to reach a women’s Final Four, set by Arkansas in 1998.
But the Hurricanes struggled from the start offensively, even as their defense kept them hanging around and leaving open opportunities to make a push.
Outside of Roberts – coming off a career-best 26 points against Villanova – seemingly no Hurricanes player could make a shot.
The Hurricanes shot 31.6% and plenty of their missed 3-pointers came off clean looks. Destiny Harden, who hit the shot to beat Indiana, scored three points on 0-for-9 shooting, with seven missed 3s.
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