2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: No. 3 LSU beats No. 2 Iowa 102-85 for first-ever national title

The No. 3 seeded LSU Tigers won the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship on Sunday, beating the No. 2-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It marks the first-ever NCAA basketball title for LSU, women’s or men’s.

Ladazhia Williams led the Tigers starters with 20 points, while Jasmine Carson came off the bench to score 22. Angel Reese, who was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, added 15 points and 10 rebounds, to record the most double-doubles (34) in a single season.

Iowa’s star guard Caitlin Clark, the 2023 Player of the Year, led all scorers with 30 points and added eight assists and two rebounds.

In their postgame press conference, players and coaches shared their thoughts on the national title tilt:

Kim Mulkey on winning her home state of Texas and securing LSU’s first-ever national basketball title: “With about 1:30 to go, I couldn’t hold it. I got very emotional. That’s really not like me until the buzzer goes off, but I knew we were going to hold on and win this game. I don’t know if it’s the mere fact that we’re doing this in my second year back home. I don’t know if it was the fact that I am home. I don’t know if it was looking across there at my daughter and my grandchildren. I don’t know if it was looking across at LSU. I don’t know what it was, but I lost it.”

Angel Reese, when asked about the “Twitter outrage” after directing the “You can’t see me” gesture to Clark and then pointing at her ring finger: “I’m happy. I mean, all year I was critiqued about who I was. I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y’all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that’s going to speak up on what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you. That’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me.”

Jasmine Carson on her 16-point second quarter: “It was a surreal moment. Every player dreams of being on a big stage like this and having the game of your life, and for it to come to fruition, it meant a lot. I was just taking in the moment. I was just living in the moment. Usually I don’t even celebrate after I make a shot, but tonight I just let it all out. I made a three. I was like — I just had to let it out. I didn’t have nothing to lose. This was my last game of my college career, and I ended it the right way.”

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder on the officiating: “I can’t comment on the officials. It’s very frustrating because I feel like I can’t talk to them. They won’t even listen. That’s what’s frustrating is there wasn’t even a conversation that could be had. When your two seniors (Monika Czinano, McKenna Warnock) have to sit on the bench — [they officials] don’t know they’re seniors. I get it. But those two women didn’t deserve it. I don’t think so. And then Caitlin getting a T. I don’t know. It’s too bad. Yeah, it’s too bad.”

Bluder on her 2022-23 squad: “I’m so proud of my team. I’m proud of the women they are. I’m proud of what they stand for. … I’m telling you, this is brutal. It’s really tough to walk out of that locker room today and to not be able to coach Monika and the McKenna ever again, that’s tough. I’m very grateful for the season we had, and I don’t want anything to take away from that. We played the National Championship Game.”

Caitlin Clark on her impact on the women’s college game: “I think the biggest thing is it’s really, really special. I don’t think it’s going to set in for me for quite some time. I want my legacy to be the impact that I can have on young kids and the people in the state of Iowa, and I hope I brought them a lot of joy this season. I hope this team brought them a lot of joy. I understand we came up one win short, but I think we have a lot to be proud of and a lot to celebrate. I was just that young girl, so all you have to do is dream, and you can be in moments like this.”

On Her Turf provided live updates and highlights throughout the game, so read on to relive all the action.

2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: March Madness results and scores

LSU vs. Iowa: Live first-quarter updates

9:36 1Q: And the national championship game is underway! Forty minutes for all the marbles. LSU wins the tip but Iowa is the first to get on the board as Monika Czinano makes a jumper, assisted by none other than Caitlin Clark.

8:29 1Q: Clark hits her first 3 of the game, breaking a single tournament record. Her average range has been 25’11”.

3:29 1Q: LSU takes a 20-18 lead as Iowa’s Monika Czinano heads to the bench after her second foul.

0:00 1Q: At the end of the first quarter, LSU leads 27-22. Four players already have two fouls, including LSU’s Angel Reese, who’s also recorded 7 points. Caitlin Clark leads the scoring with 14 points and two assists, plus two turnovers.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey told ABC’s Holly Rowe after the first quarter: “I just didn’t like the way we started with three turnovers. Holly in the first couple minutes of play. Just take a deep breath. You got a freshman out there making those turnovers but I didn’t take her out. You let her work her way through it. … We’re gonna play aggressive. They either gonna call it aggressive on both areas, or let them play. We can do either.”

LSU vs. Iowa: Live second-quarter updates

5:42 2Q: The Tigers stay out front, holding a seven-point lead midway through the second quarter. LSU’s Jasmine Carson has eight points off the bench, going 2-2 from the three and 2-2 from the free-throw line.

4:15 2Q: Again! Jasmin Carson hits her second of back-to-back threes, lifting LSU to a 49-38 lead. She’s 4-4 from the 3.

0:00 2Q: As the teams heads to the locker rooms, LSU holds a 59-42 lead. LSU’s 59 most points are the most ever in a championship game in a single half. Jasmine Carson leads all scorers with 21 points, hitting her fifth 3 at the buzzer. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has 16 points — and three personal fouls.

Carson told ABC’s Rowe at the half: “I mean it’s good for my team. You know, most of the starters got into foul trouble, so you know I’ve been working for this my whole life, and you know it just feels great to finally be playing on this stage.”

LSU vs. Iowa: Live third-quarter updates

8:50 3Q: LSU’s LaDazhia Williams opens the second half scoring, putting the Tigers ahead 61-42. Some stats from the NCAA after the first half note that LSU’s 59 points in the first half is the most any team has scored in a women’s Final Four half since Georgia scored 57 in 1985. Iowa was down 17 at the half … no team has come back more than 15 points down in a championship game.

7:54: Caitlin Clark hits the three to set the record for most points in NCAA tournament history. She now holds the single-tournament record for most 3-pointers made with 24 and the single tournament record for most points scored with 178. Sheryl Swoopes previously set the record with 177 points through five games.

3:51 3Q: Caitlin Clark hits her seventh 3-pointer of the game to bring Iowa within 10 points, 69-60 (LSU leads).

2:45 3Q: Kim Mulkey loses a timeout on a challenge as the lead tightens to 69-62.

1:04 3Q: A “crippling possession” for Iowa, as Monika Czinano gets her fourth personal foul followed by Caitlin Clark charged with a technical. LSU gets four three throws, two missed by Angel Reese and two made by Alexis Morris. LSU leads 75-64.

0:00 3Q: At the end of the third, the score remains 75-64, LSU.

LSU vs. Iowa: Live fourth-quarter updates

Before the start of the final 10 minutes, Iowa coach Lisa Bluder tells ABC’s Holly Rowe regarding both starters picking up their fourth foul on same possession: “Obviously it’s a tough one. I mean, obviously, three of our starters with four fouls is not a good thing. But we’re gonna go back with Caitlin. I mean, it’s a national championship game. We got 10 minutes left. We’re down nine. We gotta go with Caitlin.”

8:01 4Q: Iowa’s Addison O’Grady misses two free throws as LSU leads 79-69.

6:25 4Q: Iowa’s Monika Czinano fouls out, as LSU extends its lead to 14, 85-71

5:20 4Q: Caitlin Clark hits her eighth three of the game, and leads all scorers with 28. LSU remains in control, 89-76.

1:11 4Q: LSU’s Kateri Poole hits the dagger as LSU extends the lead to 98-82.

0:00 4Q: The LSU Tigers win their first-ever national basketball title, 102-85, as coach Kim Mulkey earns her fourth national title and first with the Tigers.

Postgame reaction

LSU’s Angel Reese gives all the credit to her teammates.

How to watch the 2023 NCAA D1 Women’s Basketball Championship

*Bonus viewing: WNBA greats Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will be back for another edition of “The Bird and Taurasi Show,” at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Starting lineups

No. 2 Iowa:

• McKenna Warnock (F)

• Monika Czinano (F)

• Caitlin Clark (G)

• Gabbie Marshall (G)

• Kate Martin (G)

More about Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder: Bluder ranks fourth all-time among Division I active coaches with 850 career wins (first among Big Ten active coaches), and she’s also the all-time leader for Big Ten regular season conference wins with 248. The Hawkeyes have made postseason tournament appearances in 21 of Bluder’s 23 seasons at Iowa, receiving 17 NCAA tournament and four WNIT (2003, 2005, 2016, 2017) bids, and making four Sweet 16 appearances.

No. 3 LSU:

• Angel Reese (F)

• LaDazhia Williams (F)

• Flau’jae Johnson (G)

• Kateri Poole (G)

• Alexis Morris (G)

About LSU head coach Kim Mulkey: This year marks Mulkey’s second year at LSU and her fourth appearance in the national title game as a head coach. She holds a 3-0 record in national championship games, winning three titles as the head coach at Baylor. She’s the only person in men’s or women’s DI history to win national championships as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

What’s at stake for Iowa and LSU

For Iowa: The Hawkeyes upset the No. 1 overall seed, the defending national champions South Carolina Gamecocks, to advance to their first national title berth in program history. Iowa was tabbed as the No. 2 seed for the fifth time in school history, the Hawkeyes boast a 14-4 record in the NCAA tournament on the No. 2 seed line. Caitlin Clark was tabbed as the Naismith National Player of the Year on Wednesday.

For LSU: The 2023 tournament marks LSU’s sixth Final Four appearance, but this will be the first time the Tigers are playing for a national championship. The last time LSU advanced to the Final Four was in 2008, the final year of five consecutive Final Four appearances. Prior to Friday’s win over Virginia Tech, LSU had never won a game in the Final Four — men’s or women’s. LSU has won a men’s basketball national title (1935), but there was no official championship game then.

How they got here

Fun facts, players notes ahead of national title game

More about Iowa:

• Caitlin Clark became the first player in DI women’s basketball history to notch a 1,000 point and 300 assist single season. She also became the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing Megan Gustafson.

• Clark produced the first 40-point triple-double in men’s or women’s NCAA Tournament history against Louisville in the Elite Eight. (41p, 12a, 10r)

• Iowa’s win I the Final Four versus South Carolina was the first win in program history against an AP No. 1 team.

• Against Louisville and USC, Clark is the first player to net back-to-back 40-point performances in the NCAA tourney.

• Against South Carolina, Iowa extended its program record for most wins in a single season (31).

More about LSU:

• Angel Reese tied the NCAA record with her 33rd double-double of the season in the Final Four.

• Reese is the first player to ever have 100 points, 70 rebounds, 10 blocks and 10 steals in a single NCAA tournament, per ESPN Stats and Info. She will enter the national championship game with 113 points, 81 rebounds, 14 blocks and 13 steals through five tournament games this year.

• From when coach Kim Mulkey was hired at LSU on April 25, 2021, to LSU’s win over Miami in the Elite Eight on March 26, 2023, marks a span of just 700 days that Mulkey turned a 9-13 program into a national championship contender.

• LSU finished the regular season 27-1, matching the best regular-season record in program history from 2004-05. That LSU team reached the Final Four in 2005, but fell to Mulkey’s Baylor team en route to her first national championship as a head coach.

Past champions of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship

For a complete list of champions, visit NCAA.com.

What they’re saying ahead of Iowa-LSU national title game

Lisa Bluder: “I know a lot of people lost a lot of money in Vegas and elsewhere last night. Not a lot of people betting on the Hawkeyes. So we’re just going to keep believing. We have one more game to our season. Our team was just thrilled we get to spend two more days together. Honestly I think that’s what they were most excited about. They’re playing for a national championship, and they get to spend two more days together.”

Caitlin Clark: “I think the thing for me is I understand things aren’t going to go my way. I think accepting that — and that’s not always something I’ve had throughout my college career — when I haven’t gotten fouls called, when I’ve had turnovers, when I’ve had missed shots, it’s kind of thrown me off my game a little bit. I think the physicality is something I’ve just come to accept at this point in my career. People are holding me. I have scratches. I have bruises. But so does everybody else. You can’t complain. …That’s the game of basketball. All you’ve got to do is respond, and that’s what’s going to be best for your team.”

Kim Mulkey: “I don’t want to use the word ‘powerhouse.’ We’ve won games. We have not won championships. Are we ahead of schedule? I think it’s obvious we’re ahead of schedule. We’re sitting here playing for the national championship. So the hard part now is, when it’s all over, win or lose, you go back to recruiting, you go back to trying to duplicate what you did this year and just continue on a trajectory that is positive. To someday maybe winning an SEC Championship, maybe winning a National Championship, or being what you would say a contender every year — but we’re ahead of schedule.”

Angel Reese: “To my teammates: This is what we came here for. I mean, we’re in this moment, to be in a national championship game with nine new pieces in Kim Mulkey’s second year … Be happy for ourselves, but the job isn’t finished, and we’re hungry. I think that’s the difference between us and a lot of teams. We’re not going to stop fighting until the end, and I think we just have that dog mentality within the team.”

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2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: No. 3 LSU beats No. 2 Iowa 102-85 for first-ever national title originally appeared on NBCSports.com