Angel Reese insists there’s no ‘hate’ between her and Caitlin Clark ahead of Elite Eight matchup

As heated and entertaining as the Elite Eight matchup between Iowa and LSU is expected to be on Monday night, there is no “hate” nor “rivalry” between the teams’ two leading stars, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

There is much showmanship and trash talk to be expected after last year’s NCAA women’s final match that featured Reese mocking with her ring finger and making the John Cena “You can’t see me” hand gesture towards Clark as LSU captured their first national championship.

“I don’t think people realize it’s not personal,” said Reese, who ranks second in the nation in rebounds per game (13.2). “Once we get out between those lines, if I see you walking down the street, it’s like, ‘Hey, girl, what’s up? Let’s hang out.’ I think people just take it like we hate each other. Me and Caitlin Clark don’t hate each other. I want everybody to understand that. It’s just a super-competitive game. Once I get between those lines, there’s no friends. I’m going to talk trash to you. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get in your head the whole entire game, but after the game, we can kick it. I don’t think people really realize that.

“That’s fine. I’ll take the villain role. I’ll take the hit for it, but I know we’re growing women’s basketball. If this is the way we’re going to do it, then this is the way we’re going to do it. You either like it or you don’t.”