Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, the Nos. 1 and 7 overall picks in the 2024 WNBA Draft, will meet again on Sunday afternoon, with tip-off set for noon ET on CBS. This will be the second professional meeting between the exciting rookies, and the first time the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky have played since Chennedy Carter hit Clark with a flagrant foul.
As their young WNBA careers continue, let’s take a look back to their college days, which is where the rivalry began.
Early battles in the Big Ten
Many fans may not realize that the first time Clark and Reese played each other in college was actually on Feb. 23, 2021, when they were both freshman and Reese still played for Maryland. Reese and the Terrapins got the better of Clark and the Hawkeyes twice in that first season, including in the Big Ten Championship game.
They only met once as sophomores, and again it was a win for Maryland, this time behind a dominant Reese performance where she scored 25 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.
2023 national championship game
After her sophomore season, Reese transferred to LSU to play for Kim Mulkey, which meant no more conference games against Clark and Iowa. They would, however, meet again in the 2023 NCAA women’s national championship game after both teams made somewhat surprise runs through the tournament.
The game itself wound up being rather anticlimactic. After a competitive start, LSU pulled away with a big second quarter and was never truly troubled in the second half. Clark led all scorers with 30 points, but the Hawkeyes could not keep up with the Tigers, who shot 64.7% from behind the arc. Reese finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The drama didn’t start until the closing minutes when Reese taunted Clark by pointing to her ring finger and doing the John Cena “you can’t see me,” gesture in Clark’s face — a reference to Clark doing the same earlier in the tournament. Reese’s actions kicked off a firestorm, but Clark herself was not offended.
“I don’t think Angel should be criticized at all,” Clark said. “I’m just one that competes, and she competed. I think everybody knew there was going to be a little trash talk in the entire tournament. It’s not just me and Angel.
“We’re all competitive. We all show our emotions in a different way. You know, Angel is a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her. I love her game — the way she rebounds the ball, scores the ball, is absolutely incredible. I’m a big fan of her and even the entire LSU team. They played an amazing game.
“Men have always had trash talk … You should be able to play with that emotion … That’s how every girl should continue to play.”
A rematch in the Elite Eight
When the bracket for the 2024 NCAA Tournament was released, the first item everyone noticed was that Iowa and LSU had been drawn in the same region and were on a collision course for a rematch in the Elite Eight. Despite some scares, both teams got through the early rounds to ensure that they met again.
In the lead-up, they confirmed that there was no bad blood between them.
“Me and Caitlin Clark don’t hate each other. I want everybody to understand that. It’s just a super competitive game,” Reese said. “Once I get between those lines, there’s no friends. I have plenty of friends on the court that I talk to outside of the game, but like when I get between those lines, we’re not friends. We’re not buddies. I’m going to talk trash to you. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get in your head the whole entire game, but after the game we can kick it.”
“Me and Angel have always been great competitors,” Clark added. “Obviously she played in the Big Ten for a while to begin her career, and that’s what makes women’s basketball so fun is you have great competition, and that’s what we’ve had all year long. I think Angel would say the same.”
The showdown became one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year, and ended up drawing a stunning 12.3 million viewers, which was to that point the most watched women’s basketball game ever. This time, the game lived up to the hype.
Clark and Co. jumped out to an early lead, but Reese soon took over and led a charge to put LSU in front. Everything changed, however, when Reese rolled her ankle early in the second quarter and briefly left the game. Though she eventually returned, she was not as effective the rest of the way and the Hawkeyes took advantage. Clark went off for 41 points and 12 assists to punch a ticket back to the Final Four.
That game proved to be the end of Reese’s collegiate career, while Clark and the Hawkeyes would advance to the national championship game again before falling to South Carolina.
