Getty Image / Maddie Meyer
Tonight’s LSU-Iowa matchup in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship is one of the most-anticipated women’s sporting events in history. Everyone is looking forward to the rematch of star players in LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in a rematch of last year’s national title game.
That game last year was full of trash-talking between the two stars, with Reese and LSU coming out on top, 102-85. That game had an average of ten million viewers and this game could eclipse that total.
Everyone is expecting theatrics worthy of a prime-time scripted drama, and they’re already getting them. Before the game, Angel Reese let Caitlin Clark and Iowa know which team is currently wearing the crown. During warmups, the All-American forward put a crown on the LSU bench, sending a pretty clear signal!
As she arrived for warmups, Angel Reese just placed this crown on the LSU bench while Caitlin Clark warms up in Albany pic.twitter.com/EZphO8WGhi
— Sara Germano (@germanotes) April 1, 2024
That’s quite the power move, considering they’re going up against Caitlin Clark. Clark, the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball, men’s or women’s, is capable of going nuclear and scoring 40 points tonight and leading Iowa to a win. In fact, Iowa is slightly favored by a point or two by sportsbooks.
And, it sets the tone that this is a game that LSU is taking personally. Angel Reese said on Sunday that she doesn’t hate Caitlin Clark, but it seems clear that there aren’t warm feelings between the two, either.