This Is Not a Moment in Women’s Basketball. It’s Momentum.

The American Airlines Center in Dallas hosted a capacity crowd of more than 19,000 fans for the N.C.A.A. tournament women’s final. The performances they witnessed were phenomenal, but they weren’t particularly groundbreaking. Clark, Iowa’s star guard and the national player of the year, has been called a generational player, even by Kim Mulkey, Louisiana State’s coach, whose team beat Iowa for the championship on Sunday.

But there were exceptional talents not so long before her: Sheryl Swoopes, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu. Clark, as her inspiration, points to Maya Moore, who led UConn to a 150-4 record from 2007 to 2011 and has a collection of Olympic, N.C.A.A. and W.N.B.A. titles.

Clark spent her season putting on a shooting clinic and dazzling fans with her long-range accuracy. In the round of 8, against Louisville, she finished with 41 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, the first 40-point triple-double in a Division I N.C.A.A. tournament game, men’s or women’s. Reese, Louisiana State’s rebounding dynamo, set the Division I record for most double-doubles in a single season when she got her 34th on Sunday in the title game.

After the game, discussion in the locker rooms and on social media centered on trash-talk and foul calls.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/sports/ncaabasketball/womens-basketball-march-madness.html