LSU's Angel Reese reacts in front of Iowa's Caitlin Clark, April 2, 2023, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
The Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers women’s basketball team bested the University of Iowa’s Hawkeyes for the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association national championship title. In the surprise win, the Tigers outplayed Iowa’s star player Caitlin Clark, the Associated Press national player of the year, with a score of 102-85 on April 2. The win was the first basketball title, men’s or women’s, in school history.
Clark failed to lead the Hawkeyes to their first national title even though she played one of the best individual performances in NCAA Tournament history, finishing with 30 points, CBS reported.
Angel Reese, a 6-foot-3 sophomore transfer from Maryland, averaged a double-double. And Reese, the self-styled “Bayou Barbie,” was seen taunting Clark on the court, which drew some backlash.
Named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Reese walked near Clark to give her the “y’all can’t see me” gesture and pointed to her finger, which will soon have on it a championship ring.
Clark, who is white, has been known to do the “You Can’t See Me” gesture in games and has not received the backlash that Reese, who is Black, has.
Reese’s style of celebrating angered many fans watching, including former ESPN host Keith Olbermann who tweeted, “What a f***ing idiot.”
She later tweeted that she doesn’t “fit the narrative and I’M OK WITH THAT. I’m from Baltimore where you hoop outside & talk trash,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Black Twitter had plenty to say about the on-court tactics.
“All the white folks mad cuz a team full of BLACK WOMEN beat a team full of WHITE WOMEN on a national and global stage lol. Hold that L and quit crying,” Ant CEO tweeted.
Some pointed out a double standard when it came to white players versus Black players.
“If you praised Caitlin Clark as competitive, fiery, and passionate for doing the “You can’t See me” celebration and are criticizing Angel Reese for the same we already know!!” Ryan Clark tweeted.
“Paper people really had a melt down on this app tonight over a Black woman merely serving back what was dished out,” political strategist Maya Contreras tweeted.
“Caitlin Clark can trash talk, throw up Cena’s ‘you can’t see me’”’ and be labeled the best player in Women’s college basketball but when Angel Reese does it celebrating clinching the Natty, she is a trash. This follow right along with what Dawn Staley alluded to the other night.…” Mark Stevenson tweeted.
Reese had a word on Twitter as well.
“I LOVE BEING A BLACK QUEEN,” she tweeted.
LSU’s Angel Reese reacts in front of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark during the second half of the NCAA Women’s Final Four championship basketball game, April 2, 2023, in Dallas. LSU won 102-85 to win the championship. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
