Jasmine Carson says national championship was 'the game of my life'

Many people watching LSU guard Jasmine Carson in the national championship game Sunday said she played the game of her life. The Memphis native agrees with that assessment.

“I would definitely say this is the game of my life because I won a National Championship on the biggest stage possible in college,” Carson said after the game.

Carson finished the 102-85 victory over Iowa with 22 points on 7-for-8 shooting in 21 minutes off the bench. She scored 21 of those points in the first half when she was a perfect 7 of 7 from the field.

Those 21 points were critically important to the Tigers as the team dealt with first half foul trouble from some of its starts, most notably Angel Reese and Alexis Morris.

The junior capped off the half with what will go down as one of the most memorable moments of the entire NCAA Tournament. She got the ball with under two seconds and chucked up a 3-pointer that banked in to give LSU a 59-42 lead.

“I mean it’s big for my team,” Carson said to Holly Rowe heading into halftime on the ABC broadcast. “Most of the starters have got foul trouble. I’ve been working for this my whole life and it just feels great to put it on this stage.”

Carson had been struggling in the weeks leading up to Sunday’s game. On Feb. 19, Carson scored a season-high 25 points against Florida.

She didn’t reach double figures over the next nine games as her shooting went ice, seeing her minutes drop along the way as well. She made only six 3-pointers over the stretch despite shooting 37.2% from behind the line over the first 26 games of her season.

Carson also failed to score in five of those nine games, including the Tigers’ Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four games.

But when head coach Kim Mulkey called her name during the national championship, Carson responded in such a big way, keeping the Tigers’ momentum going even with Reese on the bench in the first half and she never let up from there.

“When I woke up, I just wanted to win,” Carson said after the game. “I wanted to do anything that my team needed in this game, whether it was defense, rebounding, just anything, supporting them. I scored tonight, and that’s what pushed us and got us momentum, and I’m just proud of my teammates.”