ALBANY, N.Y. — When the 2024 women’s NCAA tournament bracket came out two weeks ago, all eyes went to Region 2 in Albany and the potential Elite Eight showdown between the teams that met for the national championship last season.
On Monday (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App), that blockbuster arrives, as No. 1 seed Iowa faces third-seeded LSU for a trip to the women’s Final Four in Cleveland. The seeds say one thing, but history says another: LSU won the national championship game 102-85 last April and likely is perceived by many as the favorite in this rematch.
The Hawkeyes have Caitlin Clark, the national player of the year last season who is expected to clean up those honors this year, too. As a senior, she became the all-time leading scorer in Division I men’s or women’s basketball — she’s currently at 3,859 points — and drew sellout crowds not just to Carver-Hawkeye Arena but at all but two regular-season road games.
Clark is surrounded mostly by other sharpshooting guards, including Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, her teammates the past four years. Iowa leads Division I in scoring, and if the Hawkeyes get hot from behind the 3-point line, they are hard to stop.
But LSU leads Division I in getting to the foul line and is the top…
