Susan Harman’s Final Four notebook from Dallas: Kim Mulkey has high praise for Caitlin Clark
Susan Harman
Dallas – Naturally, the first question asked of LSU coach Kim Mulkey was about Iowa supernova Caitlin Clark. Clark enters Sunday’s NCAA championship game having scored 41 points in each of her last two games and averaging 10 assists per game.
“I’ve never seen a player… I don’t like to use the word ‘never,’ but I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a player that can do what Caitlin does,” Mulkey said.
Mulkey won two national championships as the point guard at Louisiana Tech in 1981 (AIAW) and 1982 (the first sponsored by the NCAA). She began coaching as an assistant at her alma mater. She coached Baylor to three national titles before taking over at LSU two years ago. She’s seen a lot of skilled players.
“That’s my first time to see her play in person, and I didn’t get to watch the game because I had to deal with y’all,” she said to reporters on Saturday morning. “When I did get out there, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Gosh, she’s special. She’s special.”
And figuring out a defense is a process of trial and error.

“One minute you think you’re going to guard her a certain way, then you watch the film and change your mind and go, oh, that’s not going to work.”
As a former point guard and a coach who has recruited and coached guards she has a real appreciation for their value.
“She’s going to get her points. That girl is phenomenal shooting the ball,” Mulkey said. “But the most impressive thing to me, now that you’re talking to an old point guard, is she makes everybody around her better. You have great players that can get numbers, but she makes others on her team better.”
*Holding the Tigers. Discussing LSU’s identity is going to sound familiar because Iowa’s recent SEC opponents (Georgia, South Carolina) were also built on rebounding and defense. And they have a great player whose footwork and agility can dazzle around the basket.
“I feel like, again, we’re playing South Carolina almost with a little bit better shooters,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Angel Reese is a fabulous basketball player. Angel just seems to be playing a little bit more free at LSU. I mean, averaging 23 points a game. She shoots the ball incredibly well. But 6 1/2 offensive rebounds? We’re going against another rebounding monster team.”
Reese, a 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore who transferred from Maryland after last season, had a huge season. A first-team All-American, she averages 23 points and 16 rebounds (including 6.4 offensive rebounds). She scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds in the national semifinal game. Some Iowa fans may remember Reese scoring 25 against Iowa a year ago at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in a Terps win.
“Honestly, she’s just relentless,” McKenna Warnock said.
Bluder cautioned that Reese is a walking 3-point play. She finishes at the rim and invariably gets fouled because of her clever post moves.
“Worst play in basketball in my opinion, the old fashioned three-point play with a foul,” Bluder said. “But Angel does that. She’s able to do that. She’s so agile down there. Different type of (player) than Aliyah Boston, who I thought was more physical. I think Angel is a better ball handler, will bring the ball down the floor, but she’s just more agile. Very hard to guard.”
Iowa will not employ the same sagging defense it did against the Gamecocks because LSU can shoot effectively from the perimeter. Kateri Poole (.433), Alexis Morris (.329), Flau’jae Johnson (.333) and Jasmine Carson (.331) can all shoot the three. Reese, Morris (15.2) and Johnson (11.0) are the leading scorers and 6-4 post LaDazhia Williams averages 10. LSU scores 82 points per game and is happy to run with Iowa
Williams and Reese will do battle with Monika Czinano and McKenna Warnock inside.
“I remember playing (Czinano) last year at Iowa with Maryland,” Reese said. “She’s very efficient around the basket. I mean, she doesn’t miss often. Caitlin gets her the ball when she needs to get the ball. She’s really great. Her hands are great. She has great footwork. But you’ve got to realize we have LaDazhia Williams. She takes on that post player usually every game.”
*Late Night with Lisa. Bluder was interviewed for a half hour Saturday morning and despite a lack of sleep she was sharply parrying questions from reporters.
“I know a lot of people lost a lot of money in Vegas and elsewhere last night,” she said, smiling. “Not a lot of people betting on the Hawkeyes.”
“I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night,” she said. “My father-in-law used to always tell me, you sleep when you’re dead.”

She was asked about an earlier offhand comment that she expected the rebounding battle with South Carolina to be like a barroom brawl, or words to that effect. “Yeah, I really meant it as a compliment, like you are going to have to fight harder than you’ve ever fought in your life to get a defensive rebound against this team because they are so good,” Bluder explained. “That’s what my intent was.”
And she was right. South Carolina had 26 offensive rebounds and scored 24 points off those second chances. The Gamecocks out-rebounded Iowa by 24.
“I’ve never been in a bar fight, by the way,” Bluder quipped.
*Six-player hoops. The six-player game was last played in Iowa in 1993. But Iowa coaches Bluder, Jan Jensen and Jenni Fitzgerald all played the game. That may explain Bluder’s offensive philosophy.
“I know some people can’t understand it, six-on-six,” she said. “It was so much fun. It was a scorer’s game. Coach Jensen scored 105 points in one game. Her average in high school was 66 points a game. Just crazy stuff. But it was really fun, and you really learned how to shoot the ball. You learned how to be an offensive-minded person.
“Don’t ask us about defense, but we could shoot the ball. We still love our offense. I know — I think we played some pretty good defense last night. Everybody keeps knocking our defense. I thought our defense was pretty good last night. But offense is near and dear to us old six-on-sixers’ hearts.”
*Taking care of business. Neither Bluder nor her players were too concerned about having a hangover from beating No. 1 South Carolina Friday night.
“Once we left the locker room, we’re like, ‘all right, let’s move on to LSU,’” Kate Martin said. “And today it’s all about LSU. Obviously what we did last night was unbelievable, well believable, but it was really cool and I’m super proud of this team. But you know we can build off that game, to build off the successes, and so we’re going to keep the momentum going.”
“’This is such a tight group,” Bluder said. “People have asked me, how are you going to get them ready to play this game after last night? It really isn’t hard. We’ve taken a business-like approach to this every single step of the way. It’s a veteran group, and they can handle it.”
*Hawkeyes popular. Bluder was asked why people have been so drawn to her team, whether it’s in a neutral-court setting in Dallas or on television where some Iowa games have set viewing records. Of course Caitlin Clark’s brilliance and flair account for some of that popularity.
“Well, I just think our team is personal,” she said. “They’re not scared to show their human side. They play with a joy. They play with teamwork. They celebrate each other. They build each other up. Everybody wants to be a part of a team that really loves each other and cares about each other. I think you can see that in our team by the way we play.”
"There's something very special about this team…"
Last night, one of the best to ever do it stopped by the locker room — @NancyLieberman! #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/SEy3Dse1I6
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) April 1, 2023