LSU lifts National Championship trophy after defeating Iowa
Watch LSU coach Kim Mulkey lift the National Championship trophy after her team dominates Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85.
USA TODAY
The LSU athletic department said the national champion women’s basketball team will accept an invitation to visit the White House, despite Angel Reese saying they wouldn’t.
The Tigers defeated Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes, 102-85, on Sunday to win their first NCAA women’s basketball national championship in program history. Following LSU’s dominant performance, First Lady Jill Biden suggested inviting both teams to the White House to applaud strides in women’s sports before walking back her comments.
Reese, the women’s tournament most Outstanding Player, said she didn’t accept Biden’s explanation earlier this week, adding that “if the roles were reversed, it wouldn’t be the same.” Reese added the team would rather “go to the Obamas.”
But on Thursday, LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette said the team would accept an invitation from President Joe Biden to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, although he didn’t confirm which players would attend. Coach Kim Mulkey previously said she would.
‘I DONT ACCEPT THAT’: LSU’s Angel Reese rejects Jill Biden’s White House invite
It’s a longstanding tradition for national champions across college and professional sports leagues to visit the sitting president at the White House. However, Jill Biden floated the idea of inviting runner-up Iowa after attending the historic game in Dallas, the highest scoring championship game in women’s NCAA history.
“I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come,” Biden said. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”
President Biden only invited the Tigers and the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, but the comments sparked backlash.
During an appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast that published Tuesday, Reese said the Tigers wouldn’t have been invited if they lost, noting racial undertones.
“And I’m like, are you saying that because of what I did?” Reese continued, flashing the hand gesture with which she taunted Clark toward the end of the national championship game. “Stuff like that, it bothers me. Because you are a woman, at the end of the day. White, black, it doesn’t matter, you’re supposed to be standing behind us before anything, so it’s hard to see things like that and not to comment on it.”
Contributing: Lorenzo Reyes, USA TODAY
