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Iowa-LSU clash makes history as most-watched women's college basketball game

Monday's Iowa-LSU Elite Eight thriller shattered women's college basketball ratings records.

The big picture: ESPN said Tuesday that an average of 12.3 million viewers watched the Hawkeyes defeat LSU 94-87. Viewership peaked at 16.1 million, the network said.


  • The match was also ESPN's second-most-watched college basketball game since 2012 and the four Elite Eight games were the most watched on record, the network said.

Zoom out: Women's college basketball has skyrocketed in popularity and risen in TV ratings in recent years, spurred, in part, by star players like Iowa's Caitlin Clark and LSU's Angel Reese.

  • Monday's game was a rematch of the 2023 championship, which held the previous ratings record, averaging around 9.9 million viewers and peaking at 12.6 million viewers.
  • "The previous all-time record for any women's basketball game prior to last year's title game was 8.1 million viewers for a Virginia-Stanford national semifinal on CBS in 1992," The Athletic notes.

What's next: Friday's Final Four matches will see South Carolina play NC State at 7 p.m. ET. Iowa and UConn will tip off at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN.

  • The NCAA women's championship will be played Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. ET. The title match will be broadcast on ABC.
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