The Indiana Fever won the WNBA draft lottery Sunday and will pick No. 1 for the second straight year. The Fever, who took Aliyah Boston last season with the top pick, will now have to wait and see which players decide to enter the draft. Generational talents Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese all have the option to return to school for another season due to the extra year they were granted for the coronavirus. Los Angeles has the No. 2 pick
The unexplained absence of LSU star forward Angel Reese is bringing unwanted scrutiny to No. 7 LSU and coach Kim Mulkey as they try to defend their national title. Few details have been released about why Reese has been away from the team. The recent drama has even involved critical comments by some players' parents on social media. And it's come after a surprising season-opening loss for a team that entered the season ranked No. 1. There was no indication Reese would be back with the team for Monday night's home game against Texas Southern. She also missed LSU's previous game at Southeastern Louisiana and was benched for a half against Kent State.
Hailey Van Lith says she admired LSU's program from afar long before the former Louisville star decided to close her college career there. Van Lith's decision to switch schools was one of the biggest offseason stories in women's college basketball and helped LSU follow up its national title by winning the transfer portal sweepstakes. LSU added both Van Lith and former DePaul guard Aneesah Morrow. The additions of Van Lith and Morrow give LSU two of the most notable transfers as the top-ranked Tigers open their title defense.
Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark is embracing her role as an ambassador for the game after she led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA championship game last season. She enters this season with 90 straight double-figure scoring games and a 27.3-point career average. Coach Lisa Bluder and teammates say the attention Clark receives has never caused jealousy in the locker room. She's so popular in Iowa that a butter sculpture depicting her was displayed at the state fair and the Iowa marching band paid tribute to her during a football halftime performance.
First lady Jill Biden's walk-back of her suggestion that runner-up Iowa should join NCAA women's basketball champion LSU for a visit to the White House doesn't sit well with Angel Reese. The Tigers star said on The Paper Route Podcast the Tigers should celebrate their title with Barack and Michelle Obama rather than with President Joe Biden and his wife. Jill Biden attended Sunday's 102-85 LSU victory. She said Monday that as part of the longstanding tradition of having champions visit the White House, the Hawkeyes should come as well because they played such a good game.
President Joe Biden says he's looking forward to hosting the NCAA men's and women's championship basketball teams, the University of Connecticut and Louisiana State University, at the White House. But he did not mention whether Iowa, the defeated women's team, would also be celebrated after his wife, Jill, said she'd ask him to invite Iowa, too.Â
LSU won its first basketball title in school history, overcoming Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 in the national championship game. The victory made Kim Mulkey the first women's coach to win national championships at two different schools. She won three at Baylor before leaving for LSU two years ago. Her four titles gave her the third most all-time behind Geno Auriemma's 11 and Pat Summitt's eight. Mulkey has never lost in a championship game. Clark scored 30 points to finish the tournament with 191, breaking Sheryl Swoopes' record of 177 set in 1993.
FrontPageBets takes a look at the point spreads and betting lines for the national semifinals, as well as the odds for each team -- South Carolina, Iowa, Virginia Tech and LSU -- to win the national championship.
