The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament is set for a tremendous showcase on Monday night as LSU will battle Iowa and UConn will face USC with a pair of spots to the Final Four on the line.
The basketball alone is expected to be as competitive as it gets, and Minnesotans might have added interest thanks to a hometown favorite and potential Lynx draft picks playing in the marquee matchups.
The most direct link to Minnesota is Paige Bueckers. The Hopkins native has had a solid rebound year after missing last season with a torn AC, leading UConn with 21.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
The Huskies will take a 32-5 record into Monday’s matchup and will look to return to the Final Four for the first time since making 14 straight appearances from 2007 to 2022, but they’ll have to get past one of the top freshmen in the nation in USC’s Juju Watkins.
An elite scorer, Watkins is averaging 27 points and 7.2 rebounds per game to put the top-seeded Trojans on the brink of their first Final Four appearance since 1986. But while Beuckers vs. Watkins is a high-end matchup, the main event might be the first game pitting LSU against Iowa.
The Tigers and Hawkeyes met for the national championship last season and carry plenty of star power into this Elite Eight showdown. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the main attraction after breaking Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring record but Angel Reese should also have the attention of the Minnesota Lynx.
Reese is averaging 18.7 points and 13.2 rebounds for the Tigers this season and is one of of the top prospects in this year’s WNBA Draft. While Clark is locked into the top spot and likely to be selected by the Indiana Fever, the Sporting News’s latest mock draft on Sunday morning has Reese going to the Lynx with the seventh overall pick.
“Reese is a walking double-double,” The Sporting News’s Gilbert McGregor wrote. “She’d immediately bolster Minnesota’s frontcourt while adding to an LSU-to-Lynx lineage headlined by Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles — incredible company.”
In addition to Clark and Reese, the LSU/Iowa game also has plenty of secondary storylines. LSU head coach Kim Mulkey has been battling with the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times throughout the tournament and Hailey Van Lith is also one of the top stars in college basketball but was benched in the Tigers’ second-round game against Middle Tennessee State.
With plenty of things to watch, Monday’s games should be a treat for all fans. But they could also carry a little extra for Minnesotans who tune in.
