Angel Reese, Hailey Van Lith reflect on how they have changed women's basketball

LSU is set to tip-off against Iowa in a rematch of the 2023 NCAA Championship game. As it did last April, the two programs will showcase two of the biggest stars in college basketball today — Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.

All eyes will be on the highly anticipated matchup, and for good reason. Reese knows that she and Clark are two of the most influential ball players around, and isn’t taking that responsibility likely.

“I always wanted to leave my impact, just being able to have people say that she (Reese) changed my life, she gave me inspiration, she gave me confidence, and I think I’ve done that in so many different ways,” Reese said ahead of Monday’s Elite 8 matchup.

“Being a great player is amazing, but being able to have little girls or even grown women come up to me just like, thank you, thank you for being who you are, thank you for speaking out on things that I’m too scared to speak out on or I don’t have the platform to use, just being able to have that person. If basketball was taken from me today, I would know my impact that I’ve left on so many different people.”

For Reese’s efforts, she was named the Most Outstanding Player during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, is a two-time All-American including a unanimous first-team vote in 2023, the 2024 SEC Player of the Year, and the laundry list of accomplishments continues from there. In turn, she’s become a must-watch superstar on and off the court.

In the case of veteran transfer Hailey Van Lith, her style of play fit right in at LSU. She’s been as integral to the Tigers’ run as much as Reese has, and was a staple of women’s college basketball at Louisville as a three-year starter for the Cardinals.

“I agree,” Van Lith said of Reese’s statement. “When it goes back to the younger generation — I just remember being a kid growing up and there was never any women’s basketball games on TV. You didn’t really hear about the WNBA. I was looking up to men’s players. I wanted to be Kyrie, and I wanted to be Steph. I wasn’t like, I want to be Sue Bird. There just wasn’t any coverage.

“I think today young girls can see themselves in other female athletes. We’re there on TV. We’re in their face. They can relate to us. I think that that’s really special. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s about.”

Tip-off between the Tigers and Hawkeyes is set for 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN. Iowa is a 2.5-point betting favorite, per FanDuel Sportsbook.