LSU Tigers Claim First NCAA Womens Basketball Championship

The LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 on Sunday in Dallas, Texas, to claim the programme's first NCAA women's basketball national championship. In the first half, LSU shot 58% from the floor, including 75% from three-point range. 

The Tigers' 59 first-half points established a new record for most points scored in a half in a women's championship game, giving LSU a 17-point advantage going into halftime. Jasmine Carson came off the bench to score 21 points for LSU in the first half, including a flawless five of five on three-pointers. Carson led the Tigers in scoring with 22 points. Carson characterised the game as "surreal" afterward. 

"Every player dreams of being on this big stage and having the game of their lives, and for it to come true—it meant a lot," she said. The 102 points scored by LSU also established a new record for the most points scored by a team in a women's championship game. 

Caitlin Clark of Iowa led all scorers with 30 points, setting a new mark for most points scored in a women's tournament with 191. The 2023 national player of the year broke Sheryl Swoopes' 1993 record of 177 points established while playing for Texas Tech. Swoopes set the mark by appearing in five games, as opposed to Clark's six. 

Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey was overcome with emotion as she won LSU's first women's basketball title in only her second year as head coach. 

"Coaches coach a lifetime, and this is the fourth time I've been blessed," an emotional Mulkey said after winning her fourth NCAA women's basketball national championship after three at Baylor. 

"Never in the history of LSU basketball, men or women, have they played for a championship, and to win it, I think my tears are joy tears; I'm so happy for everyone back in Louisiana." 

The Tigers became only the third No. 3 seed to capture the championship, and the first since 1997. 

A crowd of 19,482 watched LSU's victory; according to the NCAA, over 350,000 people watched the women's March Madness, which is a record for the tournament.