Current:Home > ScamsLSU's X-factors vs. Iowa in women's Elite Eight: Rebounding, keeping Reese on the floor -Nova Finance Academy
LSU's X-factors vs. Iowa in women's Elite Eight: Rebounding, keeping Reese on the floor
View
Date:2025-04-13 18:25:58
LSU meets Iowa again Monday night with a trip to the women's Final Four on the line. Will the Tigers top the Hawkeyes again, one year to the day they beat them for the national championship? Or is Iowa's Caitlin Clark headed to her second straight Final Four?
Here are three X-factors for the Tigers to win:
Own the glass
LSU is the best rebounding team left in the tournament, outrebounding its opponents by an average of 12.6 boards per game. (South Carolina is next at 12.2.) Given that the Tigers have a clear size advantage against the Hawkeyes, it will be crucial to own the glass. Rebounds will allow LSU to control the pace – huge against a team that loves to run in transition – and create second-chance opportunities, something Angel Reese in particular excels at.
Boards aren’t just about a number, though. They are a psychological advantage. Teams know how crucial rebounds are to winning big games – as Pat Summitt used to say, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, rebounds win championships” – and in timeouts, when your coach is harping on you to get aggressive on the glass, it can take a mental toll. LSU intimidates plenty of teams with its tenacity, especially in the rebounding battle. If they can win that part, especially if they’re plus-10, the Tigers’ odds of returning to the Final Four increase dramatically. After UCLA out-rebounded LSU by six in the Tigers’ Sweet 16 win, they’ll be especially eager to grab every rebound available.
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
Keep Angel Reese on the floor
There’s no denying the Tigers are best when the 2023 Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player and the 2024 SEC player of the year is on the floor.
Angel Reese is a brash, trash-talking, one-woman wrecking crew who can back up pretty much everything she says. She’s a double-double waiting to happen, averaging 18.7 points per game and 13.2 rebounds per game. She’s an excellent passer too – an often underappreciated part of her game – and while she only averages 2.3 assists per game, she knows where the ball needs to go and gets it there.
So to win this game, she has to stay out of foul trouble and on the floor. She’s smart enough to recognize how the game is being officiated and adjust, even if it’s called tight.
Hit outside shots
When LSU beat Iowa for the championship last year, it was because the Tigers hit shots, something South Carolina didn’t do against the Hawkeyes.
Specifically, Alexis Morris (8-of-14), Ladazhia Williams (9-of-16) and Jasmine Carson (7-of-8) were terrific from the field.
All three of those players are gone. That means it’s on the likes of Flau’jae Johnson (50.1% from the field this season), Aneesah Morrow (46.7%) and Mikaylah Williams (47.5%) to step up and knock down shots. It would help if Hailey Van Lith (38.4%) could shoot better than she has all season, too.
veryGood! (48)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- City of Marshall getting $1.7M infrastructure grant to boost Arkansas manufacturing jobs
- Lonton Wealth Management Center: Interpretation of Australia's Economic Development in 2024
- Inflation has caused summer camp costs to soar. Here are tips for parents on how to save
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Judge in Trump’s election interference case rejects ‘hostages’ label for jailed Jan. 6 defendants
- This Former Bachelor Was Just Revealed on The Masked Singer
- Are Zyn pouches bad for you? What experts want you to know
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- ‘Forever chemicals’ are found in water sources around New Mexico, studies find
Ranking
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Ex-worker at New Hampshire youth detention center describes escalating retaliation for complaints
- Reba McEntire Reveals How She Overcame Her Beauty Struggles
- 'It was really special': Orangutan learns to breastfeed by observing human mom in Virginia
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Oakland’s airport considers adding ‘San Francisco’ to its name. San Francisco isn’t happy about it
- Terminally ill father shot son's ex-wife, her husband during Vegas custody hearing, reports say
- Avantika Vandanapu receives backlash for rumored casting as Rapunzel in 'Tangled' remake
Recommendation
From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
Oakland’s airport considers adding ‘San Francisco’ to its name. San Francisco isn’t happy about it
Biden administration moves to force thousands more gun dealers to run background checks
Horoscopes Today, April 10, 2024
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Kansas City Chiefs’ Rashee Rice facing aggravated assault charge after high-speed crash in Dallas
Oklahoma attorney general sues natural gas companies over price spikes during 2021 winter storm
Giannis Antetokounmpo has soleus strain in left calf; ruled out for regular season