Flau’Jae Johnson defends Angel Reese after Caitlin Clark’s masterclass sends LSU packing

Caitlin Clark has cemented herself as the face of the women’s college basketball scene. Piggybacking on her record-breaking heroics, Iowa has now reached the Final Four. Before the much-anticipated clash with LSU, Angel Reese had some messages for her on-court rival, but with the Iowa win, those have backfired spectacularly.

With the social media backlash in full swing, Flau’Jae Johnson has now joined the fray to blanket the mess after LSU crashed out of the NCAA tournament.

LSU teammates come to Angel Reese’s defense amid online abuse

The exciting clash between the Iowa Hawkeyes and LSU Tigers lived up to the billing. The game was long awaited following their last meeting in the previous season where the Tigers secured the national championship title, after which Angel Reese went viral for her “you can’t see me” gesture towards Clark.

Amid all the criticism that Reese received from the media for embracing her villain role, her teammate Flau’Jae Johnson came to her defense. The 20-year-old guard said, “Everybody can have their opinion on Angel Reese, but y’all don’t know her. Y’all don’t know Angel Reese. I know Angel Reese.”

Further emphasizing Reese’s caring nature, Johnson said that the forward helped her become a better player. “And just to see how the media ridicules her, this is my sister here and I’m so proud of her. How they like to twist it and call her the villain, y’all don’t know Angel,” said Johnson.

The 6’3″ forward’s new teammate Hailey Van Lith has claimed that trash-talking is part of the game that helps the players boost themselves as well as their teammates during a game, however, she believes that people who haven’t played the game will find it hard to understand.

Both the guilty parties, Reese and Clark, have a similar take on trash-talking, like Van Lith and admitted to having mutual respect for each other outside the court. The game ended on a bad note for Reese and LSU as they got eliminated from the tournament after a loss.

Caitlin Clark inspires Iowa to defeat LSU

Caitlin Clark, who has recently bid goodbye to Iowa’s home court after her last game there, has set her eyes on the NCAA championship trophy. Along with all the drama, Monday’s game witnessed some outstanding actions from both teams. However, the path-breaking generational talent snatched a 94-87 victory from the reigning champions.

Both teams entered the third quarter with 45 points, but Clark’s 3-pointers changed the entire game, proving that she is worthy of the praise that she received for her exceptional scoring skills. Clark scored four 3-pointers in that quarter, leading the Hawkeyes by 61-52.

Flau’Jae’s 23 points and Reese’s double-double, 17 points, and 20 rebounds could not help LSU because of Clark’s presence, who scored a total of nine 3s in the game that tied her with a previously set NCAA Tournament record and led her team to 80-69 with five minutes remaining on the clock.

The AP Player of the Year stole the show with her contribution of a massive 41 points and the night ended with Iowa’s win. Clark and Co. will be facing UConn in the Final Four on Friday night.