Lisa Bluder on LSU: 'This is not a rivalry, it's a competition'

Monday’s rematch of last year’s women’s national championship did not disappoint as Iowa and LSU met once again, this time in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Hawkeyes defeated the Tigers 97-87 to advance to the Final Four, also getting redemption for last year’s national title loss that was one of the most memorable games in women’s college basketball history. Highlighted by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese‘s matchup that featured trash talk, taunting, and an unprecedented amount of discourse and attention surrounding a women’s basketball game.

Many would consider the LSU and Iowa matchup a rivalry given their recent postseason history and the overall intensity of their games. But not the Hawkeyes, which Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder explained following the victory.

“We talked about that last night and I told the team, ‘This is not a rivalry. This is a competition.’ It’s a competition against an opponent. It is not a rivalry,” Bluder said. “I just don’t feel like we’ve played them that many times that you consider it a rivalry.”

The Tigers and Hawkeyes have only met five times over the years, with Iowa breaking the series tie on Monday night to give them a 3-2 advantage over LSU historically.

Given their difference in conferences and geographical distance, the two teams’ likelihood of facing off regularly is low unless the continue to meet in the postseason or schedule a non-conference matchup in the future. But the competitiveness of their matchups may make up for their lack of frequency, surely providing back-to-back games that have drawn a groundbreaking level of intrigue to the women’s game.

“But I mean, I think people were highly interested in this game,” Bluder added. “And so I think people were excited to see this played, to see this matchup again. So I think that was there, the excitement around the game, but it’s certainly wasn’t what we feel like is a rivalry. It was just going out to compete.”

Despite it feeling like a rivalry from the outside looking in, Iowa’s mentality of not viewing the Tigers as a foe clearly worked in their favor for the Elite Eight as they posted one of their most impressive performances to date versus the defending national champions. With their 94 points representing Iowa’s highest-scoring performance of the tournament and the most points allowed by LSU this season. Led by a 41-point outing from star Caitlin Clark.

The Hawkeyes face another women’s basketball powerhouse in the Final Four, as they’ll take on UConn this Friday at 9:00 p.m. ET.