Iowa-LSU breaks viewership, betting records in historic women’s college basketball season

From a national title rematch featuring Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese to a thriller with UConn’s Paige Bueckers and USC’s freshman star JuJu Watkins, Monday night proved to be a historic evening for women’s sports and college basketball.

WASHINGTON (TND) — From a national title rematch featuring Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese to a thriller with UConn’s Paige Bueckers and USC’s freshman star JuJu Watkins, Monday night proved to be a historic evening for women’s sports and college basketball.

Iowa and UConn emerged victorious and are headed to the Final Four in Cleveland this weekend. But these teams aren’t the only winners.

The sport emerged into its largest spotlight yet with hunger from fans not seen in years past, with new numbers to prove it.

According to ESPN, Monday’s Iowa-LSU rematch was the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record with 12.3 million viewers. It also became the most-watched college basketball game on record, with ESPN highlighting that the game pulled the channel’s “2nd-highest audience for ANY basketball game since 2012.”