DALLAS, Texas — With five players scoring in double figures, the LSU women’s basketball team defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 inside the American Airlines Center on Sunday to claim the program’s first national championship.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Iowa jumped out to an early lead as Monika Czinano hit a jumper and that sparked a 7-3 run for the Hawkeyes. LSU cut the lead down to two twice before tying it on a layup by Flau’jae Johnson who then gave the Tigers a 10-9 lead with a made free throw.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark responded with her second three-pointer of the game but LSU’s Angel Reese came right back with a jumper that tied the game 12-12.
LSU pushed its lead up to four before moments later Iowa tied it again with another three by Clark. The Tigers would take control by outscoring the Hawkeyes 9-4 in the final few minutes including Jasmine Carson hitting a three-pointer at the end.
At the end of the first, LSU led 27-22.
Iowa retook the lead by starting the second quarter outscoring LSU 10-4. That’s when LSU started heating up as Sa’myah Smith hit a jumper followed by three-pointers by Carson and Last-Tear Poa.
Iowa trimmed LSU’s lead down to 10 points but the Tigers responded in the final 1:20 by going on a 7-0 run, including Carson hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer.
At the break, LSU led 59-42.
After LSU pushed its lead up to 21 points early in the third, Iowa stormed back on a 15-2 run. With 4:46 left in the third, the Tigers held a 65-57 lead.
LSU responded with back-to-back layups by Alexis Morris and Ladazhia Williams. Iowa’s Clark came right down and drained another three-pointer.
After Morris hit a pair of free throws — resulting from Iowa’s Clark being called for a technical foul — neither team would score again during the final 1:04 of the third.
At the end of three, LSU held a 75-64 lead.
Iowa cut the lead down to eight points but then Morris made back-to-back buckets and then had a sensational fast-break dish to Williams. With 7:18 left in the fourth, the Tigers held an 83-69 lead.
LSU pushed its lead all the way up to 16 points before Clark hit a three-pointer with 5:20 left in the fourth.
Iowa was never able to cut the lead down to single digits as LSU came away with its first national title.
BIG NUMBER: 11
After making only 14 three-pointers during its entire NCAA Tournament run, LSU went 11-for-17 from beyond the arc in Sunday’s national championship game. Nine of the team’s three-pointers came in the first half of Sunday’s game.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: JASMINE CARSON & ALEXIS MORRIS
Carson came off the bench and gave LSU a huge game as she scored 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including going 5-of-6 from three-point range. Morris meanwhile scored 15 of her 21 points in the final quarter as she came up big in the fourth.
