(CNN) The LSU Tigers defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 on Sunday to win the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship in Dallas, Texas.
LSU shot 58% from the field in the first half, including 75% from three-point range.
The Tigers’ 59 first-half points set a new record for most points scored in a half in a women’s championship game and LSU went into the locker room with a 17-point lead.
Jasmine Carson, the Tigers’ first-half hotshot, came off the bench to score 21 points for LSU in the opening half, including a perfect five for five three-pointers. Carson led the Tigers with 22 points.
After the game, Carson described the game as “surreal.”
“Every player dreams of being on a big stage like this and having the game of your life and for it to pay off – it means a lot,” he said.
LSU’s 102 points also set a new record for most points scored by a team in a women’s championship game.
Iowa star Caitlin Clark led all scorers with 30 points in the game, setting a new women’s tournament record with 191 in the process. Sherrill, the 2023 national champion, broke the previous women’s record of 177 points. Swoopes played for Texas Tech in 1993. Swoopes played in a record five games compared to Clark’s total of six.
Hall of Fame coach Kim Mulkey was emotional in the final seconds of the game as she claimed LSU’s first women’s basketball championship in her second year at the helm for the Tigers.
“Coaches coach for life, and this is the fourth time I’ve been blessed,” an emotional Mulkey, who won her fourth NCAA women’s basketball national championship after winning three times while at Baylor, told ESPN.
“In the history of LSU basketball, men’s or women’s, they’ve never played for a championship and to win it, I think my tears are tears of joy. I’m so happy for everyone in Louisiana.”
The Tigers became the third No. 3 seed to win the title and the first since 1997.
19,482 people gathered to see LSU win; According to the NCAA, more than 350,000 people came to watch Women’s March Madness, a record for the tournament.
