Locked On Women’s Basketball: Hear how Caitlin Clark and Iowa defeated Angel Reese and LSU

“It reminded me [that] you can actually feel it when the women’s game gets to another level,” Megdal said. “I felt that way covering the Lynx and the Sparks during their intense rivalry. Now again, Iowa was very clear, it’s not a rivalry. It’s not a rivalry. … This is a couple of really high level teams playing a couple of years in a row. But Minnesota versus Los Angeles felt like we were reaching a new level ,New York versus Las Vegas felt that way, as well. And it felt here that way tonight.”

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Rodrigues also spoke about how Caitlin Clark, who had 41 points and 12 assists during the game, contributed to that environment: “First of all, her performance was undoubtedly one of the best things to happen in the city of Albany,” she said. “It’s her ability to include the rest of her team and to really move the ball around that makes that 41 points possible in the first place. Like that doesn’t happen if she’s not actively engaged and moving the ball around and having [LSU] think on their feet at all times, unsure of what’s coming next. Because I mean, I’m of the opinion that [Caitlin Clark] is a better passer than she is a shooter. There are just some things that she does that are absolutely unreal, they are just unreal.”

Megdal then shared some of what he had learned after visiting LSU’s locker room postgame, in particular how much Flau’jae Johnson impacted the game for the Tigers.

“It was obviously somber and it was hard, [Angel Reese] at first had some trouble even talking to reporters and she gathered herself and was great. And so talking to her about what Flau’jae could be, there’s this level of pride in what she has done over her first two years,” Megdal said. “You know, Angel said at the press conference, talking about Flau’jae, … ‘[she’s] just a sophomore.’ And so I asked her to unpack that a little bit and she talked about that this is somebody with no ceiling. And I know you hear people say that … but in this case, [she’s] somebody who puts up 23 points on 18 shots, an elite defender and elite rebounder [not] just for her size but for her position.”

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Listen to Locked On Women’s Basketball to hear more from Megdal and Rodrigues about the game, which will go down as one of the most anticipated and widely watched games in women’s college basketball history. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball and basketball history!