LSU's Angel Reese expresses nothing but love for Iowa's Caitlin Clark

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In the women's basketball national title game last April, LSU's Angel Reese famously directed John Cena's "You can't see me" gesture toward Iowa's Caitlin Clark, and then proceeded to point at her ring finger en route to victory. While Reese's antics caused a stir on social media, the Tigers forward recently expressed her admiration for Clark. 

"I love Caitlin: we've been competing since we were in AAU," Reese said during LSU's media day on Thursday, per ESPN. "It was always fun, always competitive. One day, hopefully, we could even be teammates. She is a great player, shooter, person and teammate." 

Despite the reaction following LSU's 102-85 win over Iowa, Clark has had nothing negative to say about Reese. Rather, in past interviews, Clark has attributed enthusiasm to Reese's gestures and stated that trash-talk is a normal aspect of competitive sports, something Reese seemed to agree with Thursday. 

"The world is always going to have a good girl and a bad girl," Reese said. "I'll take that I'm going to be the bad guy because I know I've grown women's basketball and inspired people." 

The rivalry between Reese and Clark certainly stoked fan interest in the sport of women's college basketball. Last year's title game averaged 9.92 million viewers, the most-watched women's college basketball game to date. And with Reese and Clark returning for their senior years as well as a possible fifth-year, the sport seems poised to continue attracting fans.

"Me and Caitlin are cool; we've never had any issues." Reese reiterated to reporters. "Just knowing I've helped grow women's basketball, and she has too, that's all that matters." 

LSU will look to repeat its success from last season as it added top transfers Hailey Van Lith and Aneesha Morrow to the roster. 

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