CAITLIN CLARK DEFEATS LSU IN ELITE EIGHT | ANGEL.REESE EMOTIONAL AFTER LOSS

12.3 MILLION: IOWA'S VICTORY OVER LSU IS THE MOST-WATCHED WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL GAME ON RECORD

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 Caitlin Clark can claim another record — the most-watched women's college basketball game in history.

Iowa's 94-87 victory over LSU in the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament on Monday night averaged 12.3 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen. That makes it one of the most-viewed games in any sport other than NFL football over the past year.

Iowa-LSU outdrew all but one of the five games in last year's NBA Finals, along with the clinching game of last year's World Series (11.48 million).

Clark scored 41 points as the Hawkeyes avenged last year’s loss to the Tigers in the national championship game.

The viewership surpassed the 11.84 million who watched the 1983 NCAA championship game between Southern California and Louisiana Tech. LSU coach Kim Mulkey played for Louisiana Tech and was matched up against USC great Cheryl Miller in that game, which the Trojans won 64-58.

It was also the most-watched men’s or women’s college basketball game ever on ESPN, more than doubling the prior largest audience.

According to ESPN, the 2002 women’s national championship game between UConn and Oklahoma had the old mark at 5.68 million. ESPN’s most-watched men’s game was the 2008 regular-season matchup between Duke and North Carolina, which drew 5.61 million.

Only one men's NCAA Tournament game this year had bigger viewership: North Carolina State's win over Duke on Sunday in the men's Elite Eight on CBS averaged 15.1 million.

According to Sports Media Watch, it was the most-viewed basketball game on ESPN since Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference finals, when the Cleveland Cavaliers' victory over the Boston Celtics averaged 13.6 million.

UConn’s 80-73 win over Southern California, which was on after the Iowa game, was the second-most watched college game in ESPN history at 6.7 million. ABC had both regional finals on Sunday, with South Carolina averaging 3.1 million in its win over Oregon State and North Carolina State drawing 2.5 million against Texas.

Clark's four March Madness games on ESPN and ABC have averaged 6.83 million. Iowa will face UConn in Friday's second national semifinal on ESPN. The winner will face either South Carolina or North Carolina State on ABC on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes’ 89-68 win over Colorado in Saturday's regional semifinal averaged 6.9 million viewers on ABC.

Iowa's last five televised games have surpassed 3 million viewers, including the last three that have drawn at least 4.9 million.

The 60 women's tournament games are averaging 1.5 million, a 127% increase over last year.

LSU’s victory over UCLA on Saturday, which preceded the Iowa game, averaged 3.8 million, the second most-watched Sweet 16 game on record.

- JOE REEDY

LSU TIGERS VS. IOWA HAWKEYES | NCAA TOURNAMENT| ELITE EIGHT

 

CAITLIN CLARCK'S 33-POINTS GAME.MOVES HER PAST LYNETTE WOODARD FOR THE MAJOR COLLEGE SCORING RECORD

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 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark has another career record on her astounding resume: the most points by any major college women's player to ever take the court.

For Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder and her peers, this one matters the most.

Iowa's superstar guard scored 33 points to lead the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes to a 108-60 romp of Minnesota, pushing her past Lynette Woodard on the all-time list with 3,650 points.

“Tonight is the night of the real record,” said Bluder, who played for Northern Iowa from 1979-83. “For some reason the NCAA does not want to recognize the basketball that was played prior to 1982, and that’s wrong. We played basketball back then. They just don’t want to recognize it, and that hurts the rest of us who were playing at that time. There’s no reason why that should not be the true record.”

Earlier this month, Clark passed Kelsey Plum (3,527) as the all-time NCAA women’s scoring leader. Woodard totaled 3,649 points from 1977-81 for Kansas when the sport was under the purveyance of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, before the NCAA began sanctioning women’s basketball with the 1981-82 season.

“Maybe the NCAA will realize that now. Maybe it will be brought to their attention, and they will start recognizing those women who played in the ’70s," Bluder said. "Remember, they played with a larger basketball and no 3-point line either."

Clark left little doubt she'd get the record by dribbling left off a screen and swishing a 3-pointer from the top of the key just 13 seconds into the game. She swished her first four 3-pointers, three of them from extra deep, and had 15 points in the first 3:18 of the game.

The heat check came midway through the first quarter, a flick from the top that bounced off the back rim and prompted a half-hearted “Overrated!” chant from a few wise guys in the Minnesota student section.

Clark had 21 points at halftime. She spent most of the second half flashing her passing skills to find open teammates, but finally with 4:17 left she buried her eighth 3-pointer of the game to pass Woodard. She also set the NCAA single-season record for 3-pointers in the process and finished with the 17th triple-double of her career.

Quite a night, even for her.

And Woodard was on her mind.