SEATTLE (AP) — Caitlin Clark put on a show with 41 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to help No. 2 seed Iowa beat fifth-seeded Louisville 97-83 on Sunday and send the Hawkeyes to their first women’s Final Four in 30 years.
The unanimous first-team All-American was as dominant as she’s been all season in getting the Hawkeyes to Dallas for the women’s NCAA Tournament national semifinals on Friday night. The Seattle 4 Region champion will face the winner of the Greenville 1 region that has South Carolina playing Maryland on Monday night.
Iowa (30-6) hadn’t been to the Final Four since Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer led the team to its lone appearance in 1993. Before Sunday, the team had only been to one other Elite Eight — in 2019 — since the Final Four team.
Clark had the 11th triple-double of her career and the 19th in NCAA Tournament history. She had the first 30- and 40-point triple-double in March Madness history.
Hailey Van Lith scored 27 points and Olivia Cochran had 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead Louisville (26-12).
GREENVILLE 2 REGION
LSU 54, MIAMI 42
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Angel Reese had 18 rebounds and LSU returned to the women’s Final Four for the first time in 15 years by beating Miami.
Alexis Morris scored 21 points and Reese added 13 for the third-seeded Tigers (32-2), who shot 30.2% and went 1 for 12 from 3-point range, including misses on its first nine attempts. But Miami was even worse from 3, missing all 15 tries.
The Tigers head to Dallas to face Ohio State or Virginia Tech in Friday’s national semifinals.
Jasmyne Roberts scored 22 points for ninth-seeded Miami (22-13), which had rallied from a huge deficit to beat Oklahoma State in the first round, stunned No. 1 seed Indiana on the road, then beat Villanova in Friday’s Sweet 16 despite blowing a 21-point lead.