March Madness Conversation Starters To Impress Your Friends With
Highlights from the women's NCAA basketball tournament.
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Let’s do the numbers.
Viewership for this year’s women’s NCAA March Madness tournament was up 42 percent.
On ESPN+, the women's semifinal games were the most-viewed college basketball games ever among men's and women's. Ever.
The Iowa-Louisville game drew more viewers than any NBA game on ESPN this season.
Women’s Final Four tickets were going for upwards of seven times more than the men’s games.
From the record-breaking attendance to historic performances, the NCAA women’s tournament really said, “Oh? You think our game is “boring”? Watch us and see what happens.”
On Sunday, Louisiana State University faced off against The University of Iowa in the national championship.
Both teams have made headlines during the tournament.
There’s Iowa’s Caitlin Clark who set the record for most-points scored in back-to-back games in the history of the women’s tournament. We also can’t forget LSU’s Angel Reese’s who broke the NCAA double-doubles record in a single season.
Listen: I’ve been on Sports Twitter for over a decade (embarrassing) and I truly have never seen the volume of conversation around the women’s tournament maybe…ever?
Clark and Reese gained nearly 400,000 Instagram followers between the two of them since the start of the tournament. If players like Clark and Reese aren’t getting major #spon con deals out of this, I’m filing a complaint with the Internet!!!
The championship was so dramatic. Refs had some questionable calls. Reese had an epic recreation of Clark’s trash talk from their game against Louisville. And LSU’s head coach, Kim Mulkey, wore another bedazzled outfit that won’t end up on The Sartorialist any time soon.
If you’re looking to impress someone with random facts from this tournament, I’ve outlined some standouts below.
Enjoy and be sure to subscribe! It’s free!
The Bayou Barbie
LSU’s, Angel Reese, has been a star of the tournament. Nicknamed the “Bayou Barbie”, Reese always shows up to games in full hair and makeup and looks *so good*.
As much as I would like to talk about her hair and makeup routine, she has also been casually smashing NCAA records and was named the Most Outstanding Player during the tournament.
Not only that, but she had some impeccable trash talk during the tournament. From mimicking Clark doing the John Cena move to her putting a ring on it with less than a minute left, Reese knows how to play to the fans—and the Internet.
However, the backlash after Reese taunted Clark shined a light on the double standard Reese and other black athletes face. The Cut wrote a great piece afterwards and there’s another good one from Essence back in 2021. Definitely both worth a read.
Speaking of The Bayou Barbie
Reese’s mom, Angel, went viral on Twitter ahead of the final, because people (men) were sliding into her DMs trying to shoot their shot at her daughter.
Part of me wants to know what the DMs said, but honestly I think we’re all better off not knowing what Men On The Internet were attempting to cold DM Reese.
The Problematic Maxxinista
I feel conflicted about this one.
LSU’s head coach, Kim Mulkey, led a team with just one returning player to a national championship title in her second season as their head coach. She also now has the third most national titles in women’s college basketball history.
She also donned fits during the tournament that look like they were designed by someone who went to Parsons and barely graduated and gets hired to start a new “designer” line at TJ Maxx.
Mulkey’s looks aren’t the only thing that are in the headlines.
She allegedly never offered any public support for her former Baylor star, Brittney Griner, while she was imprisoned in Russia. When a reporter said he didn’t recall Mulkey offering any support for Griner, she replied with, "And you won't," before changing the subject.
She also has some questionable views on COVID testing and masks.
Oh, and she even once implied that LGBTQ players should remain in the closet.
I love what she’s done with the program at LSU and really developed these players into a national championship-winning team, but her views on issues that directly affect the women she coaches and the fans that support the team are disappointing to say the least.
During the tournament, I feel like Mulkey’s outfits were used as a distraction to avoid discussing or asking her about her beliefs. I hope this changes next season.
Mulkey is giving “55 Percent of White Women Voted For Trump That Also Post “YASSS QUEEN! ON FLEEK!” On Instagram And Don’t Understand Why That’s Problematic”.
There are also *plenty* of male coaches across the major sports who have similar (and sometimes worse) views that rarely are questioned.
I’ll save that for another newsletter.
Caitlin “I Put The Team On My Back” Clark
Clark had more than one standout performance during the tournament.
From dropping 191 points during the tournament to her dealing with some truly ridiculous calls against her during the national championship, Clark was doing everything she could to bring home a national title.
(As a side note, if these refs don’t release a Notes App Apology, I’m pulling a Gwyneth and countersuing for $1.)
While Clark and the Iowa Hawkeye’s didn’t bring home victory, Clark’s performance during the tournament was truly something to behold.
Like Reese, Clark had some Jimmy Butler-level meme moments. My personal favorite is when she turned to Louisville star, Hailey Van Lith, and told her to shut up!
Iconic!
The Real Housewives of The Sweet 16
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Typically, when there’s about to be a fight during a basketball game…it’s during the basketball game. Not! This! One!
After Louisville’s win over Texas to advance to the Sweet 16, Texas’ Sonya Morris said a few words to Louisville’s Van Lith while doing handshakes and the vibes were tense!!!
While it’s unclear what exactly was said, this guy on TikTok does a pretty good job breaking it down. We need that TikTok lip-reader girl on this ASAP!!!
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Bless. Thank you for writing this summary 🙌
i think this is mulkey’s 2nd season with LSU. another great newsletter! sunday evening on sports twitter was scary. as an iowa alumni and a black woman. truly thought the race war was starting.