It's been nearly a year since LSU dashed Caitlin Clark and Iowa's hopes of a national title, but the Hawkeyes took a step toward achieving that goal with an emphatic victory over the Tigers on Monday night.
Clark, who dropped 30 points in that loss a year ago, went even bigger this time around, scoring 41 points in an 94-87 victory that propelled Iowa back to the Final Four. She also made nine three-pointers, tying an NCAA tournament record in the process.
The star guard dished out 12 assists and came up three rebounds shy of a triple-double in the game.
The Hawkeyes also got 21 points from Kate Martin and 16 more from Sydney Affolter as they punched their tickets to Cleveland for this weekend's Final Four, which will get underway on Friday.
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Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow both had double-doubles in the game, with the former scoring 17 points and hauling down 20 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Morrow notched 14 points and 14 boards, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers went down one step shy of a Final Four berth as they defended their national title.
Iowa got off to a hot shooting start in the first quarter, racing out to a 26-21 lead, but LSU scored the final 10 points of the frame, including six from Reese and two each from Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams to take a five-point lead.
LSU had a scary moment in the second quarter when Reese came down awkwardly after trying to block a Clark shot, coming out of the game with trainers looking at her leg. She went cold from the field after the apparent injury, and Iowa was able to claw their way back and knot things up at 45-45 at the break.
NCAAB
Iowa's three-point shooting came back in a big way during the third quarter of the game, with Clark knocking down four shots from beyond the arc. She also picked up a pair of assists in the frame, with Iowa storming out to a 69-58 lead with 10 minutes to go in the contest.
Iowa will take on the winner of Monday night's contest between USC and UConn. North Carolina State and undefeated South Carolina will face off in the other semifinal, with the title game set for Sunday.
