THERE were plenty of heroes in the LSU Tigers’ win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAAW Championship game earlier this week, including a vital showing from Jasmine Carson.
The Tigers capped off a magnificent March Madness campaign with a win over the Hawkeyes in the deciding match, overcoming the star power of Caitlin Clark to claim a 17-point triumph at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
The Tigers roared out to an early lead, and built it to a strong enough total to withstand a strong fightback from Iowa in the third term. The win was sealed in the final quarter, as LSU wrestled back the momentum to emerge 102-85 winners.
One of the biggest talking points out of the match was the Carson’s performance, particularly in the first half, where she was far and away the best and most impactful player on the court.
LSU Tigers (102) def. Iowa Hawkeyes (85)
Jasmine Carson – 22 points, three rebounds, one assist
Carson dominated the first half, proving to be the difference for the Tigers in what proved to be a match-winning stretch for LSU.
Incredibly, 21 of her 22 points came in the first half, exploding out of the gates and helping her side build an early and crucial lead.
Coming off the bench, Carson looked immediately dangerous, knocking down some early shots and getting her shooting motion going in no time at all.
With Iowa performing reasonably well on the defence end, a few of the Tigers’ starters were struggling to find the bottom of the net, and LSU could not break away on the scoreboard.
Once Carson was substituted in, the momentum of the match changed in a big way.
The guard had a perfect half from the field, nailing all seven of her shots on seven attempts and proved to be too much for the opposition defence.
She worked extremely hard to get open off the ball, and her LSU teammates rewarded her gut-running with some good looks.
Carson’s biggest offensive weapon was her shooting from behind the arc, where she went a perfect five shots on five attempts in the first half. Her shooting motion looked smooth and she looked unfazed by any opposition contests that may have entered her peripherals.
Although she could not replicate this level of output in the final two quarters of the match, Carson’s performance was extremely important in getting the Tigers over the line and to a maiden NCAAW championship.
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