WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden said Monday she wants the defeated Iowa women’s basketball team. team that will be invited to the White House in addition to the winner of the national title from Louisiana State University. She watched LSU win 102-85 over Iowa from the stands Sunday night.
Biden, speaking at the Colorado state capital in Denver, praised Iowa’s sportsmanship and congratulated both teams on their performance..
“I know we will bring champions to the White House, we always do. So, we expect LSU to come,” he said. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe that I think Iowa should come too, because they played so well.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether President Joe Biden would also extend a White House invitation to Iowa. — and whether it would be a joint visit with LSU or a separate engagement.
Following LSU’s win, Tigers coach Kim Mulkey said he would go to the White House if the team was invited.
LSU star Angel Reese tweeted a link to a story about Jill Biden’s comments on Monday. “ A JOKE”, he wrote, along with three laughing emojis rolling on the floor.
Reese, the standout player in the Final Four, has drawn a lot of attention on social media over the past 24 hours, ever since she waved her hand in front of her face as she watched Iowa star Caitlin Clark in the closing moments of the Final Four. LSU win. then he pointed to his finger as if to say a ring was coming.
Clark set the NCAA Tournament record for points scored with 191 in six games. If he saw Reese’s gestures, Clark didn’t seem concerned about them.
Social media fired up afterwards, with some believing it to be trash talk that’s just part of the game, while others condemned it for lack of grace in victory. Reese didn’t apologize.
“All year long, I was criticized for who I was,” Reese said. “I don’t fit in a box that all of you want me to be in. I’m too much of a jerk. I’m too ghetto. But when other people do it, you don’t say anything. So this was for the girls that look like me, who will talk about what they believe. No apologies, it’s you.”
Reese is black while Clark is white.
Clark, the scoring sensation who was the first with consecutive 40-point games in an NCAA Tournament, made a similar hand gesture to no one in particular during the Iowa Elite Eight’s win over Louisville.
Iowa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the invitation.
In his remarks, Biden also marveled at how far women’s sports have come in the US since Title IX in 1972 gave women equal rights in sports at federally funded schools.
“It was very exciting, wasn’t it?” the first lady said. “It was a great game. I’m old enough to remember when we got Title IX. We fight very hard, right? We fight so hard. And look where women’s sport has come today.”
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AP sportswriters David Brandt, Schuyler Dixon and Eric Olson contributed to this report.
