Kim Mulkey returned to Louisiana with the intention of helping LSU win its first NCAA title. In only her second year at the institution, the Hall of Fame coach accomplished that goal.
Her Tigers defeated Caitlin Clark and Iowa 102-85 on Sunday to claim the first men’s or women’s basketball championship in school history. They did this by using a record offensive effort.
“I turn around and look at the Final Four banners (in the home arena), nowhere did it say national champion,” Mulkey said. “That’s what I came home to do.”
Mulkey now has the third-most national titles
“Coaches coach a lifetime and this is the fourth time I’ve been blessed,” Mulkey said. “Never in the history of LSU basketball, men or women, has (anybody) ever played for a championship.”
The victory made Mulkey the first women’s coach to win national titles at two different schools. She won three at Baylor before leaving for LSU two years ago.
Behind Geno Auriemma’s 11 and Pat Summitt’s eight national championships, the fiery and flamboyant Mulkey now holds the third-most of those titles. Mulkey has never suffered a defeat in a championship game.
“My tears are tears of joy,” she said. “I’m so happy for everybody back home in Louisiana.”
Despite having one of the greatest individual tournament performances in history, Clark was unable to guide the Hawkeyes to their first national championship. She scored 40 in the semifinals to knock out unbeaten South Carolina one game after she had the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history in the Elite Eight.