The No. 3 LSU Tigers will take on the the No. 1 Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tournament on Monday. This Albany Regional 2 final will take place at MVP Arena in Albany, NY, with tipoff set for 7:15 p.m. ET on ESPN.
This is the highly anticipated rematch of last year’s national championship game, where LSU defeated Iowa 102-85 to capture the program’s first title. The winner will advance to the Final Four in Cleveland.
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
Spread: Iowa -1.5
Total: 168.5
Moneyline: Iowa -125, LSU +102
No. 3 LSU (31-5)
First Round: Defeated No. 14 Rice 70-60
Second Round: Defeated No. 11 Middle Tennessee 83-56
Sweet 16: Defeated No. 2 UCLA 78-69
Her Hoops Stats ratings: 6th
Leading scorer: Angel Reese (18.7 ppg)
Key stat of tournament: 99 free throw attempts through three tournament games.
LSU is trying to get back to its second straight Final Four and will have to go through the team that it beat in last year’s title game to get there. The defending champions have been tested in the NCAA Tournament so far as all three of their games had points in the second half where it was just a one-score contest. Angel Reese has averaged a double-double and Flau’jae Johnson has been the leading scorer, but don’t sleep on Aneesah Morrow in this matchup. The DePaul transfer has averaged 17 points in the tourney and could be the difference maker for the Tigers.
No. 1 Iowa (32-4)
First Round: Defeated No. 16 Holy Cross 91-65
Second Round: Defeated No. 8 West Virginia 64-54
Sweet 16: Defeated No. 5 Colorado 89-68
Her Hoops Stats ratings: 2nd
Leading scorer: Caitlin Clark (31.7 ppg)
Key stat of tournament: Has held all three tournament opponents to under 38% shooting.
Iowa is also looking to get back to the Final Four for a second straight season and has a chance to do so by avenging its loss from last year’s title game. The Hawkeyes have rolled in their three NCAA Tournament games, but were tested in their second-round showdown against West Virginia. That game was tied with less than three minutes to go and they were able to capitalize on numerous trips to the line down the stretch. Caitlin Clark has predictably been the conductor of their machine by averaging 29.3 points and 9.3 assists in the tourney, but she hasn’t been alone with Sydney Affolter, Kate Martin, and Hannah Stuelke also stepping up.