Bayou Barbie vs. Caitlin Clark Drama

I loveeeee me some drama folks, and that is exactly what we had at the end of yesterday's national championship game between LSU and Iowa. Now, LSU ran away with this one proving to be the more physical and skilled team here. What happened in this game is what I expected to happen to Iowa against USC. Caitlin Clark was just not enough here for the Hawkeyes, they needed more from someone else to get the job done.

Let's highlight the queens before we get into the drama. Queen #1 ,Caitlin Clark, had 30 points, 8 assists and put on a show from behind the arc, hitting 8 threes.

Queen #2,3,4, and 5 were all on the Tigers. Big Fo (Flau’jae Johnson) had 10 points, 7 boards, and was Elmer's Glue on the defensive end. Alexis Morris, PG(Point God), had 21 points and also added 9 assists. She was more automatic from the mid-range than I am on an uncontested layup. Jasmine Carson, are you joking with me??? Coming off the bench with a flamethrower like that should be illegal. Kim Mulkey should be ashamed of herself for not showing Carson to the world sooner. She went 5-6 from three point land and ended with 22 points. Lastly, the Bayou Barbie herself, Angel Reese. Reese secured her 34th double-double yesterday, breaking the single season NCAA record for double-doubles.

Alright.

Let's get into the good stuff ya ya? This game was physical from the jump, but there was really no smack talk or visible shade being thrown either way until the end of the game. LSU was dribbling the ball out up 102-85 as Iowa conceded and everyone was just waiting for the time to expire so the game could be cemented in history. Angel Reese channeled her inner Eli Apple and decided to take things to the next level when nobody expected it. She went out of her way and stalked Caitlin Clark with every move, hitting the John Cena “You Can’t See Me” celebration and then gesturing towards her ring finger, completely adding salt to the wound for Caitlin Clark, who is, at the time, coming to the reality that she just lost the national championship.

It was truly an insane sequence of events, I sat up in my chair and was ready to defend Caitlin Clark to the grave. Now, for those who don’t know or don’t remember, Caitlin Clark is a queen at smack talking and was the one who started the John Cena celebration that was used against her by Angel Reese like an UNO Reverse card. Caitlin pulled this celly out of her back pocket against Louisville in the heat of competition, and she did it for maybe one full second..... not 15 seconds.

Caitlin also has been all over social media for “disrespecting” USC guard, Raven Johnson by waving her off in the middle of the game as if to say “i don't need to guard you.” For context, Raven Johnson is a 21% three point shooter and it was a part of Iowa’s game plan to not guard her, but instead guard the trees USC had in the paint. LSU saw this and decided to create their own narrative of feeling “disrespected” by something Iowa and Caitlin Clark did against one of their SEC rivals……..what? I can't argue much with it because that narrative they created worked like a charm. So what if I think it's dumb? It clearly worked for them.

As for Angel Reese doing her dance on Caitlin Clark and stalking her around for 15 seconds instead of celebrating a national championship with her team? I think it was wrong, and she should have gotten a technical foul for it for sure. What Caitlin Clark did against Louisville and South Carolina IS NOT the same thing as what Angel Reese did, and if you think it is the same form of trash talking you may need to see a doctor.

Regardless, one thing I will NOT do is call this 20 year-old any type of name or question her character. From what I can tell she is a great teammate and is loved by her coaches, so who am I to question that? Reese should have been assessed a technical foul for taunting without a doubt, and the fact that she wasn’t shows that the refs were just clueless and had no control over the game (that blog is for a different day).

I think all of this engagement is great for the sport, but let's make sure to make all this talk about the success of both teams and what they have done for the sport, and not about a 20 year-old’s character.

Congrats to the Bayou Barbie and all of the LSU Tigers for bringing home the natty. #Geaux