LSU’s women’s basketball team sparked outrage prior to their game against Iowa on Monday night after leaving the court before the American national anthem was played. The LSU Tigers were beaten 94-87 by the Iowa Hawkeyes in Albany, where the latter’s star player Caitlin Clark put on a 41-point masterclass to help her team advance to the Final Four of this year’s NCAA tournament.
Yet earlier in the evening, footage on social media appeared to show that LSU players skipped the national anthem before it played out at Times Union Center. Iowa stars, meanwhile, stood hand-in-hand while taking in the Star-Spangled Banner just minutes before the Elite8 fixture.
Iowa players holding hands during the American National Anthem. LSU players left the court before the anthem was performed. pic.twitter.com/GhCLHUXiBX
— Dan Zaksheske (@RealDanZak) April 1, 2024
After a video showing their empty end of the court surfaced online, fans were quick to hit out at LSU for not listening to the anthem on the night. ‘LSU is a complete disgrace,’ one said on X. ‘Their entire team should be expelled.’ Another wrote: ‘Bad optics for the LSU team. How could they do such a thing?’
A third put: ‘They are a disgrace and should be kicked off the team!’ A fourth claimed: ‘If the team doesn’t show for all parts of the game, including the anthem , disqualification is the only way forward. No more of this silliness.’ While one simply said: ‘Glad to see that LSU got their a***s handed to them.’
Despite the online criticism, LSU head coach Kim Mulkey claimed after the game that her players being missing from the court was by no means ‘intentional’. ‘Honestly, I don’t even know when the anthem was played,’ Mulkey told reporters. ‘We kind of have a routine when they’re on the floor and they come off at the 12-minute mark.
‘I don’t know, we come in and we do our pregame stuff. I’m sorry, listen, that’s nothing intentionally done.’ In a rematch of the most-watched game in women’s basketball history, the 2023 NCAA Championship, coach Lisa Bluder’s Hawkeyes outperformed Mulkey’s Tigers for a 94-87 victory.
Fans were left furious after footage surfaced of LSU stars missing the anthem on social media
But coach Kim Mulkey claimed her players not being on the court was by no means ‘intentional’
Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis was in the crowd for Monday’s game, as was Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy. With the win, Iowa advances to its second straight Final Four, where they will have a chance at a coveted main course: The first national championship in program history. It was 364 days earlier that the same two teams met with an NCAA title on the line, only for Angel Reese and LSU to dispatch Clark’s Hawkeyes, 102-85, in front of a television audience of nearly 10 million viewers.
This year, with both teams playing in the same region of the NCAA Tournament, things were considerably different. Reese would foul out in what will likely be her final college game, while Clark, with her 41 points and 12 assists, was simply too much in a full 40 minutes of action. ‘She’s just a generational player, and she just makes everybody around her better,’ Mulkey said of Clark, the likely top pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft. ‘That’s what the great ones do.’
She then joked after their exchange postgame: ‘What did I say to her? I said, I sure am glad you’re leaving. I said, Girl, you something else. Never seen anything like it.’ Clark’s performance was simply another chapter in a masterclass senior season that saw her surpass another LSU legend, Pete Maravich, for the most points in the history of Division I basketball.
Not only was it her fifth 40-point outburst of the season, but by making nine 3-pointers, Clark surpassed UConn legend Diana Taurasi’s NCAA Tournament record of 61 career makes from deep. ‘Caitlin’s very skilled,’ said LSU guard Hailey Van Lilth, who was tasked with defending Clark for much of the night. ‘She’s a great player. She hit some tough shots. There’s not a whole lot you can do about some of the threes she hit.’
