TV Ratings For Iowa Women’s Championship Game Destroyed Previous Record

We knew it was likely Iowa's first appearance in the NCAA Women's Championship Game on Sunday would result in a record television audience but I'm not sure anyone predicted this, especially for a 2:40 p.m. tip-off.

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The Iowa women's basketball team was a big draw throughout the NCAA Tournament, in no small part due to Caitlin Clark, the young woman who has become the face of women's college basketball.

Clark poured in a remarkable 191 points in six NCAA Tournament games, an average of nearly 32 per game. Earlier today, she won the Wooden Award for Most Outstanding Player of the Year. A new trophy she can add to a case that must already be busting at the seams.

When Iowa met South Carolina in Friday night's second semifinal game on ESPN, a record 5.5 million people tuned in to watch, with a peak of 6.6 million at one point in the game. What would happen with the championship game on ABC? Would the fact the game was played in the afternoon hurt the size of the television audience? Uh, not on your life.

Sunday afternoon's 102-85 LSU win over Iowa was not only the most-watched NCAA Women's Basketball game in television history, it destroyed the previous record.

While many people give much of the credit to ABC for the huge television audience, here in Iowa we know better. This was the Iowa Hawkeye and Caitlin Clark effect. Speaking of Clark...

Tuesday afternoon, Clark answered two questions that have been in the media for the last 48 hours.

After First Lady Jill Biden suggested both Iowa and LSU should go to the White House, ESPN asked Clark the question. She said though she'd love to go to the White House, it shouldn't be under these terms:

As for what LSU's Angel Reese did at the end of the championship game, Clark offered these thoughts:

Congratulations to the Iowa women's basketball team on a phenomenal season, and an unforgettable NCAA Tournament run. Here are our favorite photos from Iowa's trip deep into March Madness.