What Caitlin Clark, Iowa Told Themselves Before Rematch With LSU

It would have been natural for Caitlin Clark and her Iowa teammates to enter Monday night’s game with revenge on their minds.

The Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament pitted Iowa against the LSU Tigers, who defeated Clark and company in the national championship game last season. LSU didn’t just take down Iowa on the biggest stage, though. The Tigers overtly basked in the glory, which included taunts squarely directed at Clark.

But Iowa didn’t focus on the past when it stepped into Albany’s MVP Arena. The Hawkeyes only cared about the here and now, and the present mindset helped lift them to a 94-87 win.

“If you live in the past too much it kind of ruins the present,” Clark told reporters after her 41-point game. “That’s what we talked about. Be where your feet are. The biggest thing we talked about was what does Iowa need to do to win this game?”

Clark also didn’t lean into the past once Iowa punched its ticket to the Final Four. After the game, Angel Reese revealed the contest’s two best players exchanged kind words when they crossed paths in the handshake line.

Iowa’s next task arrives Friday night when it meets Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies with a trip to the title game on the line.