DALLAS — When Kim Mulkey shocked the women’s collegiate basketball world by accepting the LSU head coaching position, there was never much doubt that she would eventually lead the Tigers to a national championship.
But after two years on the job? As an underdog? With the odds against her team at every turn? Against Most Valuable Player Caitlin Clark? Mulkey admits that this was never truly in her intentions.
So there she stood — and hooted and hollered and stomped her feet and yelled at the officials — in the middle of the national championship game on Sunday afternoon, her gold-and-black sequined Tigers print pantsuit glistening beneath the stadium lights, and, well, that was definitely the goal.
Mulkey and unsung hero Jasmine Carson led the Tigers to a 102-85 victory over Clark and Iowa in the highest-scoring national championship game in history, in front of a crowd that fluctuated between elation and desperation with each momentum shift.
Mulkey is the only women’s collegiate basketball coach to lead two distinct teams to national titles, and this one is by far the most surprising, as a No. 3 seed with a questionable nonconference schedule for major portions of the season. With one minute remaining in the game, Mulkey turned to her bench, placed her palm over her mouth, and attempted to suppress her tears. The audience chanted “L-S-U!”
“I couldn’t contain it,” stated Mulkey. “That’s really not like me until the buzzer sounds, but I knew we were going to hold on and win this game. I don’t know if it was the fact that we’re doing this in my second year back home. I don’t know if it was looking across at my daughter and my grandchildren. I don’t know what it was, but I lost it.
“Thus, you should now know what I believe about it. Very passionate with joyful tears.”
Angel Reese gestured at her ring finger and performed John Cena’s “You can’t see me” hand motion, waving her palm across her face towards Clark as the last seconds ticked away.
Mulkey slumped against the bench as her players danced around her and her staff surrounded her.
Flau’Jae Johnson, a freshman, stated that she is the only coach in the world, Country, and universe to have won two national titles at two different colleges “That is a legend. This is why I’m here. On my vision board were the phrases freshman of the year and national championship. I am able to remove both of them. I knew it was possible, I imagined it was possible, and it occurred.”
How could it not be, given Clark’s performance throughout the NCAA tournament? Despite Iowa’s loss, Clark set a record for the most points scored in a single men’s or women’s NCAA tournament (191).
Clark scored 30 points on 9-of-22 shooting, after back-to-back 41-point outings, including a victory over No. 1 South Carolina, to end with 30 points.
Clark stated, “I probably could have attacked the rim a bit more tonight.” “I thought they played an excellent defensive game. I believed they had more individuals waiting in the paint for me than South Carolina did. You’ve reached a point in the game where you must get up in the hopes of bringing your team back into contention. I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve played the most games in a single season, which has surely aided me in breaking records.”
Clark began the game with the type of deep 3-pointers that have won her a legion of fans outside Iowa, eliciting oohs and aahs from the audience.
Yet, LSU was not intimidated by the occasion. In fact, the Tigers stated that they believed they deserved in this position, and they played with an enthusiasm that was evident in each made shot and steal.
If anyone could keep up with Clark, it would be Reese, an LSU All-American, right?
Reese went to the bench with two fouls late in the first quarter and sat out the entire second quarter. Carson, a three-time transfer and one-time LSU starter, simply could not miss, draining three-pointer after three-pointer in a stunning performance that improbably defeated Clark in the first half.
As the game began, LSU assistant Chante’ Crutchfield reportedly told Carson, “This is your night.”
“When I got up, I only wanted to win,” Carson said. “I was willing to do anything my team need in this game, be it defence, rebounding, or anything else.”
The officiating raised the ire of both Mulkey and Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder. In the first half, seven players each received two foul calls.
Carson finished with 21 first-half points, a perfect 7-of-7 (5-of-5 from 3-point range), and a banked 3-pointer just before halftime — a fitting way to cap the half. Clark, meanwhile, had 16 points.
LSU led 59-42 at halftime, and despite Iowa’s valiant effort, the Hawkeyes were unable to make a serious run at the lead. Clark made her trademark shots, but she was also called for a questionable technical foul in the third quarter after flipping the ball behind her back out of bounds following a foul called on a teammate, and she was unable to lead the Hawkeyes’ comeback.
Clark’s hope of bringing Iowa that elusive national championship will have to wait until next season, whereas LSU’s first women’s basketball championship in school history could not feel better considering where this squad began the season.
With nine new players, Mulkey had no idea what to expect from her squad. Her players weighed in when she stated before the Sweet 16 that she had no playbook on how to win a national championship two years into a programme “She is the strategy. Coach Mulkey is the greatest of all time. LSU only required Coach Mulkey.”
Morris attempted to forewarn everyone when she and her teammates felt “disrespected” by the way Iowa protected the South Carolina guards, as she told reporters during Saturday media interviews “I will take that as a personal slight going into the game. You will be required to guard us.”
Johnson and her teammates stated that they believed they had something to prove. LSU shot 54%, including 65% from 3-point range. The last time they shot so well was on January 12 against Missouri.
“People disregarded us, they did not believe LSU would be anything. We are the best squad in college, and we are real hoopers “Johnson stated, “Punish it.”
Even when Iowa guarded LSU, the Tigers made shots they had not made all season, and Mulkey won her fourth national championship, placing her third on the list of all-time winningest coaches.
Mulkey recalled her initial LSU news conference at the Pete Maravich Assembly Hall, where she requested that all attendees turn around to view the five Final Four banners hanging from the ceiling.
Mulkey stated, “Nowhere did it say ‘national champs,’ but that’s what I came home to do.” “I am relieved because I no longer have to consider it. To witness, after the game, the former LSU players, Seimone Augustus crying, and all those people who were truly a part of previous Final Fours but were unable to advance, was heartbreaking.
“To walk down the hall and have my old Baylor teammates who won championships with me waiting for me, and to look in the seats and see my former Louisiana Tech players, it’s emotional. I am so thrilled. I just can’t articulate it. Just a profound sense of appreciation and joy.”
