‘Good villains’ from LSU stand between Iowa women’s basketball and another Final Four

ALBANY, N.Y. — They’re “the good villains,” according to Angel Reese.

“Everybody wants to beat LSU,” she said. “Everybody wants to play against LSU.”

As for their coach, she’s a Hawkeye heartbreaker.

Three of Lisa Bluder’s best women’s basketball teams were eliminated at the hands of Kim Mulkey.

It happened in the 2015 Sweet 16, at Oklahoma City. Then again in the 2019 Elite Eight, at Greensboro, N.C.

Mulkey was at Baylor then, and her teams were far superior to the Hawkeyes.

Then came 2023, in the national championship game. That was the toughest one to swallow, from an Iowa perspective.

“Kim is a heck of a coach,” Iowa assistant Jan Jensen said. “She’s one of the best to ever do it.”

The Hawkeyes have another breakthrough opportunity Monday.

Second-ranked Iowa (32-4) faces No. 8 LSU (31-5) in the Albany-2 regional final; tipoff is 6 p.m. (CT) at MVP Arena.

The last meeting, a 102-85 LSU decision 365 days ago, was the most-watched women’s basketball game ever, with an average of 9.9 million viewers.

Monday’s showdown might eclipse that.

“This is not to take away from any other teams remaining, but didn’t that game have the highest ratings ever in women's basketball?” Mulkey said. “You're probably going to anticipate this one will, too, but it (should have been) at the Final Four.

“Man, this would be special if it was at the Final Four.”

Instead, only the winner advances to Cleveland next week.

“I'm sure the committee did what they thought was best as far as seeding this,” Bluder said. “I just want to be playing in the Final Four, so do I play LSU here or there? It doesn't matter.

“We just want to play our best game tomorrow and try to get there.”

Iowa was listed as a 1 1/2-point favorite as of Sunday afternoon.

“When we lost to them last year, then when we saw the brackets, we knew this was a possibility,” Iowa’s Sydney Affolter said. “It’s going to be won or lost by whoever executes their game plan best.”

The game features a pair of explosive offenses: Iowa leads the nation in scoring at 91.9 points per game; LSU is third at 85.9 ppg.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark (31.8 ppg), the presumptive No. 1 WNBA Draft pick in two weeks, has the Tigers’ full attention.

And their full respect.

“Caitlin Clark is who she is. She's an amazing player,” Reese said. “Last year, the scouting report was just to contain her as best as we can and not let the surrounding players score as much as they could.

“So we're going to do the same thing again this year. We're just going to have to not allow those other players to score.”

LSU counters with an uber-balanced lineup in which all five starters average in double-figures.

Reese and Flau’jae Johnson were starters on last year’s title team. Mulkey fortified the rotation via the transfer portal, gaining Hailey Van Lith from Louisville and Aneesah Morrow from DePaul.

“I wanted to come to a place and create relationships,” Morrow said.

Both watched last year’s NCAA final at home.

“I was on my couch with my parents,” Morrow said. “It was great, a very intense game.”

This one will be the same.

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Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com