by Julian Spivey Women’s basketball has been killing it the last few years when it comes to the talent on the court – both at the collegiate and professional level – and that makes women’s basketball as a whole my sports hero of the week. It all culminated Monday night during an Elite Eight matchup between the University of Iowa and Louisiana State University (LSU), a rematch of last year’s National Championship game in which LSU won. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese are two of the biggest names and best players in the country and both played terrific games, though Reese was hampered after a hot start by an ankle injury that occurred in the second quarter of the game. Clark led all scorers during the game with 21 points, while adding 12 assists to go with it. Reese scored 17 for LSU, though before she injured her ankle was also on pace for 40 points, but more impressively managed to rip down 20 rebounds, 10 of which were on the offensive side. Iowa got the better part of LSU this time around with the 94-87 win and go on to the Final Four this Friday (April 5) to take on the University of Connecticut. That game will air on ESPN at 8 p.m. (CST) The Iowa/LSU rematch set a women’s NCAA basketball record as the most-watched game of all time with 12.3 million viewers, including a peak of 16 million viewers. Not only is that a record for women’s college basketball but it makes it one of the most-watched non-NFL sporting events of the last year. More people watched Iowa/LSU than any of the most recent World Series or NBA Finals games. Not only are the collegiate women drawing in viewers in droves but the WNBA has seen a consistent rise in TV ratings since 2020 making college basketball one of the few sports to have gained followers since the pandemic. Last season the WNBA had its most-watched season in more than 20 years and its combined viewership between ABC, CBS, ESPN and ESPN2 rose by more than 20% from the previous season. Women’s basketball is seeing a boom like it never has before and that’s terrific for all fans but it’s beautiful for the young girls watching the game and dreaming of one day being on the big stage like Clark and Reese. Following LSU’s loss to Iowa on Monday night (April 1), Tigers star forward Angel Reese gave an emotional press conference in which through tears she spoke of how she’s been attacked “so many times” over the past year. Reese said: “I’ve been through so much. I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times. Death threats. I’ve been sexualized. I’ve been threatened. I’ve been so many things and I’ve stood strong every single time. I just try to stand strong for my teammates because I don’t want them to see me down and not be there for them … I’m still a human.” It was a very human moment from Reese, whose celebrations (some might say taunting) on the court have drawn the ire of many college basketball fans (and many sports followers who don’t follow the game but just enjoy being haters). I’m always going to feel sympathetic toward an athlete who’s receiving death threats simply for the way they play a game, especially when that athlete is merely a 21-year-old college student. But I was dismayed by seeing how many commenters online (I know, you probably shouldn’t expect the best of the world to show up in online comment sections and social media) ripped into Reese for showing this type of human emotion. Some of these commenters seemingly believe she’s brought all of the vitriol, which again includes death threats, upon herself. What happened to folks having a little decency and sympathy for others? I can understand some people not enjoying the celebratory actions from Reese – but the fact is that when white athletes, including Clark, have done similar things they aren’t viewed in quite the negative way that when someone of Reese’s appearance does them. Reese declared for the WNBA Draft on Wednesday (April 3) and I wish her success in the professional ranks – there’s no reason to believe she won’t go into the pros and dominate like she did at LSU. I also hope that Reese can put some of the negative aspects of sports fandom behind her because it can be a callous world. I wish that weren’t the case but it doesn’t seem likely to change for the better anytime soon. I just hope Reese remains who she is. Don’t let the bastards get you down.
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