Reemerging from the second quarter media timeout in the 2023 women’s basketball national championship game, LSU quickly inbounded after Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall hit a pair of free throws.
Just nine seconds later, Last-Tear Poa would watch her jumper rim out, which was quickly corralled and converted on the offensive glass. Jasmine Carson swished a 3-pointer 13 seconds after an Iowa turnover, and Flaujae Johnson turned a defensive rebound into another Carson triple after just eight seconds.
In less than a minute, LSU managed to stretch its five-point lead out to 13.
The most watched game in women’s college basketball history continued at this thrilling, neck-straining pace. LSU and Iowa both totaled around 90 possessions, blowing past the NCAA average of 70.3 per game, and the Tigers used a 32-point second quarter to pull away in a 102-85 victory. But as a record audience watched the end of a wild Final Four, they also got to see perhaps a new era in women’s basketball.
According to the HerHoopStats database, which dates back to 2009, there have been four teams to ever maintain a pace faster than 75.5 possessions per game and an adjusted efficiency higher than 39 — and they’re all from this season: LSU, Iowa, South Carolina and Notre Dame. Among the 10…
