The Elite Eight Last Night Has Shown The Progression of Women’s Basketball

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The Elite Eight matchups final evening have been nothing in need of spectacular for ladies’s basketball, that includes 5 standout gamers on the forefront of the sport, capturing the eye of American sports activities viewers on Monday evening.

The LSU duo of Angel Reese and rapper/hooper Flaujae Johnson took on Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in a extremely anticipated rematch of final yr’s Nationwide Championship. The night’s second recreation spotlighted USC’s freshman sensation JuJu Watkins as she went head-to-head with some of the full gamers within the nation, UCONN’s Paige Bueckers.

In Albany, New York, final evening, essentially the most awaited girls’s basketball matchup within the sport’s historical past unfolded as LSU and Iowa clashed within the NCAA Event. The Girl Tigers emerged victorious with a 102-85 win, regardless of Iowa’s sharpshooter Clark delivering a powerful efficiency with 30 factors, eight assists, and two rebounds. Nevertheless, LSU’s depth and scoring prowess proved overwhelming for Clark’s supporting solid.

Kim Mulkey, reflecting on the evening’s occasions, echoed the sentiment that Clark was an imposing power from the beginning in opposition to the Girl Tigers.

“She’s just a generational player, and she just makes everybody around her better,” Coach Mulkey instructed the media postgame. “That’s what the great ones do.”

Clark completed the sport with 41 factors and 9 assists, hitting 9 three-pointers and breaking a viewership document of 9.9 million for a girls’s basketball recreation. Reese was fouled out on a questionable name in the direction of the top, whereas her group was already trailing by eight with lower than two minutes remaining. Regardless of this, she delivered a dominating efficiency with 17 factors and 20 rebounds.

The standout of the evening was Flau’jae Johnson, who led the group with 23 factors and 6 rebounds. Postgame, she made it clear how a lot work she and Reese had put in and spoke extremely of Angel Reese, certainly one of her closest associates, highlighting the sort of individual she is.

“Everybody is entitled to their opinion on Angel Reese, but they don’t truly know her,” Johnson instructed the media. “I do. I know the real Angel Reese, and the person I encounter daily is incredibly strong. She’s caring, loving. The crown she wears is indeed heavy.”

Johnson felt compelled to talk out, not as a result of she needed to, however as a result of she needed to focus on what Reese has meant to this program and the game over the past yr and a half. The significance of psychological well being for athletes can’t be overstated, and Reese didn’t select to excel at basketball solely to face unwarranted ridicule and scrutiny.

She shared her emotions of unhappiness since profitable a championship, emphasizing that nobody deserves to endure such a sentiment all through their season. Having acquired loss of life threats, Reese needed to remind everybody that she is, in any case, human.

This recreation divided America, with some supporting the babyface, Clark, the underdog who struggled to recover from the hump in opposition to the Girl Tigers.

Not solely did LSU win final yr, however additionally they turned richer once they acquired combo guard Hailey Van Lith from Louisville final summer season. Nevertheless, final evening, Hailey couldn’t sustain with Clark, who made her pay for it. Social media was abuzz, questioning why Mulkey’s in-game changes have been missing.

Clark’s media consideration has been vital, main her group to a 32-4 document. She broke the NCAA scoring document, turned the Large Ten profession chief in triple-doubles, was named Large Ten Participant of the 12 months, and achieved essentially the most 30-point video games by any man or girl in Division I up to now 25 years.

The matchup was a legacy recreation for Clark, providing her the possibility to avenge final yr’s loss to her arch-rival and advance to the Remaining 4 in Cleveland. Each Clark and Reese, painted as rivals, have emphasised that their competitors is pleasant, with no sick will between them. Their rivalry has considerably contributed to the expansion of the game.

The second match lacked the drama of the primary, however for actual basketball followers, it was the one to observe. The UConn Huskies, arguably essentially the most dominant girls’s program of the twenty first century, are led by Head Coach Geno Auriemma, a key determine in school basketball with 27 match championships, nine-time Related Press Coach of the 12 months titles, and 11 NCAA Championships.

UConn is now 15-0 of their final fifteen Elite Eight matchups, a staggering statistic. Bueckers didn’t disappoint, outshining freshman sensation JuJu Watkins of USC.

Watkins was excellent, overcoming a poor capturing evening to attain a double-double, ending with 29 factors, 10 rebounds, and two assists.

UConn Guard Paige Bueckers is pursuing the one achievement that has eluded her: profitable a Nationwide Championship. Regardless of main her group to the Remaining 4 in her freshman and sophomore years, back-to-back knee accidents had put Bueckers underneath the radar as the ladies’s recreation reached new heights. She got here again even stronger, and final evening, she reminded everybody why some think about her some of the full gamers within the nation, a sentiment echoed by South Carolina’s Head Coach Daybreak Staley.

“Paige was good when she was injured,” Stayley instructed the media a couple of weeks in the past. “She was good in the National Championship Game(2022). I love Paige’s game. For me, I would like for her to take more shots if I’m Geno(Auriemma) because she doesn’t take bad shots. She’s got great court vision, she’s got great court awareness. Paige is going to be an Olympian at some point soon.”

Excessive reward from a former Olympian certainly, however make no mistake, USC’s JuJu Watkins was ready and prepared for UConn. She is the following face of girls’s basketball, having damaged the freshman scoring document throughout final evening’s Elite Eight matchup. As a Los Angeles native who selected to remain house and lead the Girl Trojans again to prominence, she has not disenchanted since stepping onto campus.

Profitable Nationwide Freshman of the 12 months, incomes First Crew All-American honors, making the All-Pac-12 group, the All-Pac-12 Defensive group, and being named Pac-12 Freshman of the 12 months. Scoring 51 factors in a single recreation this season, she positioned second in convention historical past for factors in a recreation. She is right here to remain and shall be a fair higher participant subsequent yr.

Now that the Remaining 4 is about, will we see Paige vs. Kaitlyn on Friday? Man, oh man, a UConn group that may defend and has a measurement benefit over this Iowa group, which doesn’t have the identical roster as final yr that may have matched up higher with the Girl Huskies. Nevertheless, try under how all 4 women, together with Flau’Jae, confirmed out final evening. These video games didn’t disappoint in any respect.

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