On a weekend filled with buzzerbeaters, opening weekend and NBA players continuing to sit out despite being in the middle of a playoff push, women’s college basketball stole the show. From shitty calls, to smack talk, and coaches behaving like 3 year olds while dressed like fishing lures, the Women’s national championship was electric.
The officiating
Not to be outshined by their male counterparts, the officiating in the women’s championship was atrocious. Caitlin Clark is generational talent and brought the star power to women’s sports it desperately needed…but she was in foul trouble early and often, including a horrific technical foul with a minute left in the 3rd to give Caitlin her 4th foul and send her to the bench. She wasn’t alone, 3 of Iowa’s starters received 4 fouls before the 4th quarter. Yes, LSU was more talented and Iowa needed to muddy the game up to keep it close, but the refs were stacking makeup calls on top of makeup calls that made the game unwatchable by halftime. A damn shame for a tournament that received so much publicity.
The shittalking
I’ll make this section short and sweet. Angel Reese is getting way too much blowback for pointing at her ring finger and doing the “you can’t see me” celebration toward Caitlin Clark (who was doing the same celebration to South Carolina 2 nights prior). You can’t talk shit and not expect it back. It’s like Jaire Alexander doing the griddy on Justin Jefferson.
Kim Mulkey can save women’s bball
She’s could easily be the Coach K of women’s bball. She made the entire game about herself by wearing a suit that would make the Tiger King himself cringe while standing on the court. Not the sideline, outside the coaches box, toes in the action. She was throwing a temper tantrum after every call (although several were warranted) and had to be boxed out by an official at one point. Credit to her, she dominated the refs mentally and was able to personally double team Caitlin several times in the first quarter without receiving a technical.
Her first words in a postgame interview? Not how proud she was of her girls, but how she’s now won 3 “of these national championships”…self-absorbed and look at me. College sports are about the coaches and their personalities. Kim Mulkey could save women’s basketball by being an insufferable human being.
Never would’ve thought I’d be writing about Women’s College Basketball after San Diego State’s buzzer beater and UConn looking to add its 5th national title in 25 years, but here we are! We’ll talk about that after the natty tonight. Enjoy it, love you, bye.
The Morning Flush 