March Madness saw Iowa’s Caitlin Clark shine and bring the whole of women’s basketball with her in the process, but she didn’t do it alone.
For the superstar to be able to catapult NCAA basketball in front of the eyes all over the world, she needed dance partners, and oh did they show up in their droves.
From the ultimate winners of South Carolina, to the final four and more, here are 7 standouts throughout the championship, that helped transform women’s basketball forever.
Caitlin Clark is great.
Kamilla Cardoso is great.
Iowa is great.
South Carolina is great.
Bluder and Dawn are great.
This title game is great.
Paige is great. Aziaha James is great. JuJu is great.
ESPN's studio show is great.
This tournament is great.
Can we all stop hating on…— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) April 7, 2024
March Madness saw Iowa’s Caitlin Clark shine , but also LSU Tigers’ Angel Reese
In her fourth season of college basketball, a repeat of last year’s final versus the Iowa Hawkeyes saw Angel Reese’s LSU Tigers crash out on this occasion in the Elite Eight last Monday, on a scoreline of 94-87.
Scoring 17 of those points, she also collected 20 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks in that particular face off versus counterpart Clark, marking what could be the final chapter in their collegiate rivalry.
You see, last year, their clash was said to be right up there with other famous contests within basketball’s past, including the 1979 men’s college basketball finals which saw Magic Johnson and Larry Bird kickstart their matchup.
Famously, Reese taunted Clark with a ‘You Can’t See Me’ gesture, perhaps a reflection of the gulf in scoreline at the time, where the Tigers sailed to victory.
Reese actually faced much controversy for accusations that the action was unsportsmanlike like, with Clark even jumping to her defence to dispel that narrative.
Alongside their incredible talent, the profile of the two heavy hitters is something to behold in self.
Reese has amassed over 2..8m followers on Instagram, while Clark has 1.7 million, both of which are the highest follower counts of any other college players, either male or female.
Eligible for the 2024 WNBA draft, there’s no telling what she’ll do next, but what there is a certainty about, is that Reese will have a big impact wherever she ends up.
ANGEL REESE HIT CAITLIN CLARK WITH THE "YOU CAN'T SEE ME" 👀 pic.twitter.com/Zj3mqIzkk9
— ESPN (@espn) April 2, 2023
All Tournament team players - Cardoso, Bueckers, Johnson, Stuelke
In tandem with Clark, Paige Bueckers, Tessa Johnson, Hannah Stuelke and Kamilla Cardoso were all selected for the All Tournament Team of the NCAA’s women’s March Madness, the latter of whom actually picked up the 2024 Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.
Bueckers was one of UConn Huskies’ most influential players, and will have the opportunity to build on that again next year.
On the other hand Stuelke was paramount for Iowa in their win against Bueckers’ side, scoring 23 points from 12 shots during their game, and her battle versus UConn’s Aailyah Edwards was one for the ages.
Tessa Johnson then was phenomenal in the final face off on Sunday, earning her spot for that very reason. Lebron James himself even thinks so! There she shot 19 points from 11 shots, providing the XFactor South Carolina needed to get over the line - aided by Cordoso of course.
Cordoso’s exhibits in both of the final four games were sublime, and she finished with 15 points as well as 17 rebounds when it mattered against Iowa, and when questions were asked of her, she always came up with the answers.
And now your All-Tournament Team @Kamillascsilva - @GamecockWBB @paigebueckers1 - @UConnWBB @CaitlinClark22 - @IowaWBB @tessajohnsonnnn - @GamecockWBB @StuelkeHannah - @IowaWBB #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/b9vrJJk0qj
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) April 7, 2024
March Madness saw Iowa’s Caitlin Clark shine , but also USC Trojans’ JuJu Watkins & South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley
As any type of player MiLaysia Fulwiley’s season was up there with one of the best, but even more so when you account for the fact that she was only a freshman.
The rookie point guard impressed under coach Dawn Staley, and certainly showed a lot of potential, on top of her extraordinary talent, towards the business end of the tournament.
Finally then, the same can in fact be said for USC Trojans’ JuJu Watkins, who also was a freshman this year.
She brought her team to new heights, reaching the Elite Eight, but losing out to the UConn Huskies come crunch time.
However, she did leave her mark, averaging 27.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game and picking up the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award as a result.
Juju Watkins
Milaysia Fulwiley
Raven Johnson
Hannah Hildalgo
Mikayla Williams
Hannah Stuleke
Madison Booker https://t.co/KkobsUaKSN— stas (@yourgirlayedub) April 7, 2024
