It is a wonderful feat that women’s basketball is finally getting the attention that it deserves. The LSU v.s. IOWA game illustrated peak performances from two teams that did everything they could to make it to where they were. Between Caitlin Clark’s unparallelled eight three-pointers and LSU’s record-breaking 102 points, the match was not only wildly entertaining, but also incredibly inspiring. 

The energy was palpable from every single player and coach on the court, and it was just so exciting to see how much this game mattered to them and the sensational 19,000+ attendees. 

The average viewership of a WNBA game in 2022 was roughly a little over 400,000 people, and the capacity of the stadiums usually filled up to about 5,000. But, in the afternoon of April 2, on a moderately humid day in Dallas, Texas, 9.9 million people tuned in to watch the finals of the March Madness Women’s game. This was the highest viewership ever pulled for girls’ college basketball. 

It is unclear how to accurately describe how insanely important that is. Controversies during the game resulted in many people consuming the media to form their own opinions and biases of what really happened and whether or not there was bad blood between LSU and IOWA. 

While some may see this as harmful to the program, Angel Reese has other ideas. 

“Twitter is going to go on a rage every time, and I’m happy. I feel like I’ve helped grow women’s basketball this year,” Reese mentioned, smiling, in a press conference right after the game. “I’m super happy and excited.” 

It is a crazy big deal that people are engaging in conversation about women’s sports; that consumers are interested, because people are talking. They are dissecting if Reese’s hand gesture was accompanied with mean intent, praising Clark for her out-of-this-world talent, commending LSU coach Kim Mulkey for her skillful mentoring and it all is so, so thrilling. 

People are giddy for the future of women’s athletics, including players. Iowa star Monika Czinano has seen a big change in her time.

“My past five years here, I’ve seen the game grow more than I ever thought it could. I’m just so grateful that the sport we love and give our heart to, I’m just so glad that so many people are tuning in and loving it so much,” Czinano said, in the postgame press conference. 

The press conference for Iowa following the loss was one with many, many questions for future MVP, Caitlin Clark. She spoke about what it meant for her, her team, and the future of hoops.

“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.” Clark said, crying. “I was just that young girl, so all you have to do is dream, and you can be in moments like this.” 

Clark is already so influential, and she only just celebrated her 21st birthday. She is an inspiration to young girl athletes everywhere and her games are always insanely impressive, averaging over 27 points.

The LSU press conference interview with Angel Reese was just as interesting. Reese shows nothing but love for her team, which is just so important. When you love your peers, you find love in whatever you’re doing. She talked specifically about her teammate, Alexis Morris.

“Lex, she’s a first rounder. I told her all year. I told her, don’t turn it on and off. You can kill every single possession that you can if you really want to. I’ve told her that. She just gets into a mode where she’s unstoppable at some point,” Reese said about Morris.  

The compliments that Reese floods her teammates with are filled with such admiration and joy that you can totally understand why their chemistry on the court is so perfect. 

All in all, the LSU VS. The IOWA finale of Women’s March Madness was definitely a life-changing game, filled with blood, sweat and tears. Every single player deserves every opportunity bestowed onto them.