March Madness: LSU interrupts Caitlin Clark's tournament records with a few of its own
The legend of Iowa guard Caitlin Clark was bolstered when she became the first player in NCAA tournament history to record back-to-back 40-point games. On Sunday, she entered the title game poised to break a few more records — then LSU and Angel Reese decided to do the same.
Underdogs with "nothing to lose," LSU set NCAA women's tournament records for points scored in a half (59) and in a game (102) and changed the story. Winning the program's first national championship came with some other history as well.
LSU is now the first national champion to start the season outside of the AP top 15 and the first national champion to be seeded lower than No. 1 in the tournament since Tennessee in 1977.
Naturally, Clark broke an NCAA tournament record early in the matchup. Just 90 seconds into the game, she broke the record for most 3-pointers in a single tournament with 25. It wasn't the first time the tournament 3-point record was broken this year. Virginia Tech's Georgia Amoore, who hit four 3-pointers also against the Tigers in the women's Final Four on Friday, held the record for two days at 24.
On Sunday, Clark's record-setting deep shot gave Iowa an early 7-3 lead.
Then, LSU happened. By the end of the first half, the Tigers led 59-42 after Jasmine Carson banked in a 3-pointer to end the highest-scoring half ever in a women’s NCAA tournament championship game. The buzzer 3 came after Carson came off the bench to score 21 first-half points on 5 of 5 shooting from 3.
Those 59 points topped the 55 that Tennessee scored in the first half of the 1998 title game against Louisiana Tech. Tennessee won that game 93-75.
Attempting to close the deficit with heroics that Iowa fans have come to expect, Clark scored her 186th tournament point in the third quarter. That broke Sheryl Swoopes' previous record of 177 and Glen Rice's 184 in the men's tournament. Clark became the single tournament leader for points scored by any woman or man in NCAA tournament history, ending up with 191.
At one point, Clark and Carson both had five 3s — both were one away from breaking another record. Clark ended up taking it, totaling eight 3-pointers and setting a record for 3s made in a national championship.
Despite Clark's efforts, LSU was able to spoil Iowa's comeback bid, an effort highlighted by Reese's stellar performance. By the end of the title game, Reese had recorded her 34th double-double of the season, the most in a single season in NCAA history.
In more history, a sellout crowd of 19,482 people rounded off a tournament record attendance of more than 350,000 throughout March Madness.
