Key events
Preamble
Is this the biggest game in women’s basketball history?
It’s a rematch of last year’s national championship, a 102-85 barnburner punctuated by some taunting that sparked a national debate.
It features a transcendent player, Iowa’s Caitlin Clarkwhose media profile has been enhanced by changes in NCAA rules that allow her to appear in television advertisements.
It features a coach, LSU’s Kim Mulkeywhose flamboyant sideline attracts attention that is exponentially increased by several controversies, including her refusal to give even the most lukewarm support to Brittney Grinnerwho led Mulkey’s Baylor team to a 40-0 record in 2012 while the player was imprisoned in Russia.
Mulkey’s fraught relationship with her family and some (certainly not all) former players led to a story in The Washington Post, against which Mulkey launched a preemptive strike.
But that story was overshadowed by a Los Angeles Times column that portrayed LSU’s game against UCLA as a battle between good and evil. The newspaper took the unusual step of editing the column to say that an “earlier version of this commentary did not meet the Times editorial standards.”
Are you not having a good time?
Beau will be visiting soon. In the meantime, teams might want to take a look at the three-point line if events elsewhere in this tournament are anything to go by:
The NCAA was criticized after it was discovered that the three-point lines for the Elite Eight were a different length than the hoop on the two sides of the court in Portland.
The news emerged as NC State and Texas prepared to meet for a berth in the women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four. The coaches of both teams were notified but agreed to play despite the discrepancy. Basketball fans on X soon called the NCAA above the disturbance.
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