By Wonderwall.com Editors
6:00pm PDT, Apr 2, 2024
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NCAA ladies’s basketball stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese capped off their long-running on-court rivalry with a hug and phrases of encouragement.
The second got here on April 1 after Clark led her Iowa Hawkyes to a 94-87 win over Angel and the LSU Tigers within the Elite Eight spherical of the of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match in Albany, New York. The sport had been extensively hailed as a rematch of Clark and Reese’s unforgettable nationwide championship battle in 2023, which LSU gained 102-85. This time round, it was Iowa’s 12 months — and Clark’s sport. The Iowa native — who not too long ago broke Steph Curry’s document for essentially the most 3-point photographs ever made by a participant of any gender in a single Division I sport — scored 41 factors (together with 9 3-pointers) and made 12 assists.
Within the handshake line after the sport, Clark and Reese opted to forgo the same old shake or high-five possibility in favor of what gave the impression to be an emotional hug and some shared phrases.
“She simply instructed me, ‘Proceed to be an important participant,'” Reese stated in a press convention after the sport, NBC and ESPN reported. “And I instructed her, ‘Proceed to be an important participant, as nicely, and maintain elevating the sport and go win it,'” added Reese, who additionally had an unbelievable sport with 17 factors, 20 rebounds and 4 assists.
Reese confronted harsh criticism and on-line abuse final 12 months over moments throughout the Girls’s Championship sport in opposition to Iowa when she put her hand in entrance of her face whereas staring down Clark — the so-called “you may’t see me” gesture — and pointed at her ring-finger, implying LSU would win the title. Clark, who made the identical “you may’t see me” gesture in a earlier sport, has repeatedly defended Reese in opposition to detractors. The 2 have additionally stated in a number of interviews that there isn’t any off-court pressure between them, although they’ve usually discovered themselves pitted in opposition to each other by followers and the press.
Clark has already declared for the 2024 WNBA draft, making the Elite Eight sport the pair’s final face-off as faculty gamers. Reese ended her season with the choice to return to LSU for a closing 12 months or declare for the draft as nicely.
Be part of us as we check out the perfect pictures of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese from their epic closing faculty showdown.
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Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes, shot a 3-point basket in entrance of Angel Reese, #10 of the LSU Tigers, throughout the second half within the Elite 8 spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
“I do not suppose folks understand it isn’t private,” Reese instructed reporters the day earlier than the sport. “As soon as we get out between these traces, if I see you strolling down the road, it is like, ‘Hey, lady, what’s up? Let’s hang around.’ I believe folks simply take it like we hate one another. Me and Caitlin Clark do not hate one another. I need everyone to know that. It is only a super-competitive sport.”
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Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes, shot the ball throughout the first half of her showdown in opposition to the LSU Tigers throughout the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Angel Reese, #10 of the LSU Tigers, shot the ball as Caitlin Clark, #20 of the Iowa Hawkeyes, supported a block try by her teammate within the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Angel Reese, #10 of the LSU Tigers, ready to cross within the first half of the sport in opposition to the Iowa Hawkeyes within the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Angel Reese, #10 of the LSU Tigers, shot the ball in opposition to the Iowa Hawkeyes within the first half of the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes, reacted as Angel Reese, #10 of the LSU Tigers, seemed on throughout the second half of the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes, shot the ball in entrance of LSU Tigers teammates Flau’jae Johnson #4 and Angel Reese #10 throughout the second half the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrated after beating the LSU Tigers 94-87 within the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Iowa Hawkeyes star level guard Caitlin Clark celebrated after beating the LSU Tigers 94-87 within the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
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Flau’jae Johnson #4, and Angel Reese #10 of the LSU Tigers converse to press after dropping to the Iowa Hawkeyes within the Elite Eight spherical of the NCAA Girls’s Basketball Match at MVP Area in Albany, New York, on April 1, 2024.
“I have been attacked so many occasions — [received] demise threats. I have been sexualized. I have been threatened. I have been [through] so many issues, and I’ve stood robust each single time,” Reese instructed reporters, citing the threats, assaults and abuse she’s endured because the 2023 championship sport.
“I simply attempt to stand robust for my teammates as a result of I do not need them to see me down and never be there for them,” she continued.
“I am nonetheless a human,” she added. “All this has occurred since I gained the Nationwide Championship and I stated the opposite day I have not been joyful since then. And it sucks, however I nonetheless would not change something. I might nonetheless sit right here and say I am unapologetically me. I am gonna all the time go away that mark and be who I’m and stand on that.”