RSS Feed

Tech Support

Clark No. 22 of Iowa University, who is happy after confirming his victory


More than 12 million TV viewers have been counted for the NCAA college basketball women's game of the American College Sports Association.

ESPN, a U.S. sports media, reported on the 3rd that the number of TV viewers for the women's college basketball game between Iowa University and Louisiana State University on the 2nd was 12.3 million, according to Nielsen's tally.

This is the highest number of viewers in all-time U.S. women's college basketball history.

The previous record was 11.84 million for the 1983 University of Southern California versus Louisiana Tech.

ESPN said, "In the U.S. Major League Baseball, Houston Astros' Ronel Blanco achieved a no-hitter, and NBA Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker scored 52 points, but all received less attention than the women's college basketball game."

Forbes, a U.S. economic media outlet, also noted the unusual interest in women's college basketball games, saying, "The number exceeded the average of 11.64 million viewers per game in the NBA championship last year and 9.1 million viewers per game in the Major League Baseball."

In addition, the match between the University of Iowa and the University of Louisiana was the quarterfinals, not the U.S. final, although it was the global final.

The reason why so much attention was focused on this game was because of Caitlin Clark, a "superstar" at the University of Iowa.

Clark has the most points ever scored 3,900 points in both the men's and women's top divisions of the NCAA, and is the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA rookie draft this year.

Clark, who is highly popular in the U.S. with both three-point shooting and assist capabilities, was runner-up in last year's NCAA Women's Basketball First Division Tournament.

However, at that time, it was Louisiana State University who met and lost in the final, and basketball fans were more interested as the rematch was held in the quarterfinals this year.

In addition, the rivalry intensified in last year's final when Angel Reese, another "star player" at Louisiana State University, made a hand gesture meant "I can't see" toward Clark and mocked him with a gesture meant "the champion ring is ours" after winning the game.

However, in the rematch, the University of Iowa won 94-87, and Clark, in particular, scored as many as nine 3-pointers and swept 41 points.

Reese of Louisiana State University, who was at odds with Clark in the final a year ago, struggled with 17 points and 20 rebounds but failed to achieve his second consecutive victory in the tournament.