March Madness used to focus mainly on men, but now the spotlight shines brightest on the women with players like Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso, Cameron Brink and Angel Reese bringing attention to the female side of collegiate basketball. This year’s women’s championship game attracted 18.7 million viewers and Lincoln sophomore Brigitte Kirstin was one of them.
“It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime moment being able to experience the peak in women’s sports,” said Kirstin.
During the women’s championship game on April 7, Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes faced the third overall pick in the WNBA draft, Cardoso and the South Carolina Gamecocks for the title.
South Carolina came out on top with an 87-75 win over Iowa.
Freshman Tessa Johnson for South Carolina came off the bench scoring 19 and going 7/11 on overall field goal attempts and Clark led her team with 30 points shooting 5/13 on three-point attempts.
Clark broke numerous records this season including:
– Feb. 15, 2024: Became the all-time women’s Division 1 points leader, surpassing Kelsey Plum’s previous record of 3,527 points set in 2017.
– March 3, 2024: Became the highest-scoring player in Division 1 college basketball history for men or women, breaking Pete Maravich’s previous record, set 54 years earlier.
– March 8, 2024: Surpassed Stephen Curry for the most three-pointers in a single season of NCAA Division 1 basketball history.
Lincoln sophomore Sawyer Harper felt Clark’s influence on the game.
“When I’m walking in the halls I would hear people talking about [Clark] so her impact is showing off the basketball court as well,” said Harper. “ I feel like this is just the beginning of [Clark’s] story.”
The Iowa Hawkeyes will lose Clark next season and she was first overall pick in the WNBA draft on April 15 and was selected by the Indiana Fever.
“I can see why [Clark] was the first overall pick because I know she has changed the game with her talent and how many people, male and female, will go out of their way to watch a women’s game,” said Kirstin.
The Gamecocks will lose senior Cardoso for the 2024-2025 season; she was drafted by the WNBA team Chicago Sky.
It wasn’t just players who made history in this year’s championships but coaches as well. Tara Vandaveer, head coach of Stanford retired with the most NCAA basketball wins, surpassing Coach K, head coach of Duke mens basketball. Dawn Staley, head coach of South Carolina, lead her team to a 74-1 in back to back seasons as well as coaching this year’s womens’s March Madness most outstanding player, Cordoso.
