Caitlin Clark responds to Angel Reese’s taunt after Iowa’s loss to LSU in National Championship
The Iowa star was asked about the LSU player’s late-game move that turned heads
Caitlin Clark’s mesmerizing run through the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament came to an end in Sunday’s National Championship Game after Angel Reese and LSU dominated Iowa, 102-85, to win the Tigers’ first title. Late in the game, Reese taunted Clark and the Hawkeyes with WWE star John Cena “You Can’t See Me” gesture, which drew national media ire and led to immediate questions about the move in the postgame fallout.
Reese, named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player after scoring 15 points against the Hawkeyes, had the following to say about her gesture at Clark.
“All year, I was critiqued for who I was,” Reese said. “I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. When other people do it, and y’all don’t say nothing. So this is for the girls that look like me. For those that want to speak up for what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you. And that’s what I (did) before tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. And Twitter is going to go into a rage every time.”
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Here is what Clark said about Reese and other reactions following a memorable final on the women’s side of March Madness.
Clark took the high road in defeat and said she wasn’t bothered by Reese’s taunt.
“I was just trying to get to the handshake line and shake hands and be grateful that my team was in that position,” Clark said. “All the credit in the world to LSU. They were tremendous. They deserve it. They had a tremendous season. Kim Mulkey coached them so, so well. She’s one of the best basketball coaches of all time, and it shows. She only said really kind things to me in the handshake line, so I’m very grateful of that too.”
Reese said of her gestures after the game, including one where she pointed toward her ring finger at the Iowa bench, “Caitlin Clark is a hell of a player, for sure. But … I was in my bag. I was in my moment.”
In the aftermath, a video of Clark doing the same “You Can’t See Me” gesture earlier this season against Louisville went viral, promoting a double standard since Reese’s move was criticized and the potential No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft’s was not. However, 247Sports Iowa reporter David Eickholt says the tweets were misguided since Clark’s gesture was not aimed at the opponent, instead, was directed toward Iowa’s bench.
“That’s what I can just brag on,” Reese said. “Twitter can say what Twitter can say. I love reading those comments. I have all the screenshots of what everybody has said about me all season. What are you going to say now?”
Kim Mulkey’s Tigers overcame 30 points and eight assists from Clark, who set the NCAA Tournament record for most points of the course of March Madness thanks to yet another big game. Clark finished the game with 9-of-22 shooting from the field including 8 for 17 from 3-point range. Clark did commit six turnovers, however, and played through foul trouble throughout the game. Mulkey told Clark in the handshake line after the game she was a “generational” player.
Reese wasn’t the only LSU player frustrated by the nation’s fawning over Clark during the NCAA Tournament, it appears. Even LSU’s Alexis Morris took the spotlight directed at the opposition as motivation in the women’s final.
Officiating during the game drew criticism from both the broadcast team and social media. Clark was called for a questionable technical foul that killed her team’s momentum in the third quarter. After the game, Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder opened up on the hot-button issue.
“I can’t comment on the officials,” Bluder said. “It’s very frustrating because I feel like I can’t talk to them. They won’t even listen. That’s what’s frustrating is there wasn’t even a conversation that could be had.”
Reese undoubtedly helped grow the sport of women’s basketball throughout the season. LSU responded to a double-digit loss to South Carolina with one of the more unprecedented runs in program history to capture the school’s first championship.
Robbie Weinstein contributed to this report.
