By Claire Squicciarini, Staff Writer
It was March, you know what that means, time for madness. In this year of March Madness, two significant stars rose from within women’s college basketball: Caitlin Clark at Iowa University, and Angel Reese at Louisiana State University.
Unlike other sports, college basketball starts their tournament with 64 teams, only cutting out 4. The remaining continue through the tournament all through March and a bit of April. This has created the March Madness we all know and love. People make brackets, throw parties for the games, and watch as the teams slowly get down to the final two.
Although there were many impressive characters in this league, these two stood out drastically by talent and attitude. Caitlin Clark is a 6 foot, 22-year-old point guard on the Iowa University team. She impressed audiences with her 31.6 points, 8.9 assists, and 7.4 rebound average per game. Fans loved her competitive attitude and incredible skills. Soon TikTok for-you-pages were full of Caitlin Clark, whether they were basketball fans or not.
Angel Reese is a 6-foot-3, 21-year-old forward for Louisiana State University. This athlete also has impressive stats from this last season, with 18.6 points, 2.3 assists, and 13.4 rebounds per game. Although these stats are not the same as other athletes’, fans were impressed with Reese’s talent and fierce attitude.
Both athletes are talented, but what makes them stand out this year is their rivalry. Last year, LSU won the NCAA tournament, taking the win from Iowa. The match between these two players was electric. The viewers were at an all-time high, with 12.6 million watching at its peak. Both women have a fiery competitiveness that carried over to the 2024 tournament.
During their championship game against each other, Reese was seen making the “you can’t see me” gesture to Clark. Following this she also pointed at her ring finger, taunting them about their previous win. Fans erupted, with this competitiveness adding to the craze that is March Madness. Clark is also seen in this game, and others, making the “you can’t see me” gesture. Clark, overall, has the competitive attitude in every celebration, play, and call made.
Fans started taking sides and becoming much more involved in the tournament and watching games. The two athletes have clarified multiple times to press that competitiveness is all in good fun. Although they might not have true anger at each other, their competitive nature and amazing talent made this March Madness like no other. On April 1st, LSU lost to Iowa in the Elite Eight: 87 to 94.
Iowa went on to the finals, losing to South Carolina (75 to 97) on April 7th. Clark did not get the ring, but she did have an amazing season. She set the new NCAA division one-time scoring record, with 3,569 career points. In the February game against Michigan, she had a career high, and set the Iowa singles scoring women’s game record with 49 points.
Clark and Reese were the faces of college basketball and displayed amazing athleticism and elevated levels of friendly competitiveness. The audiences could not get enough of these women, making for a March Madness that will go down in the history books.