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The women’s tournament had centre stage. The stars, and the games, delivered in a big way

- TIM REYNOLDS

There were plenty of people at a movie theatre in central Iowa on Monday night, although very few of them were watching a movie.

They were there to see Caitlin Clark. And they weren’t alone, not even close. Millions of people tuned in across America to watch a doubleheader of women’s basketball that captivated fans like perhaps never before. Clark and Iowa in a national final rematch against Angel Reese and LSU in one game; Paige Bueckers and perennial power UConn against first-year sensation JuJu Watkins and Southern California in the other.

The winners on the scoreboard: Iowa and UConn, who will meet in Final Four on Friday night in Cleveland. Perhaps the biggest winner: the women’s game, which had the NCAA Tournament stage all to itself on Monday night with massive star power delivering two games worthy of the over-the-top billing — and maybe, just maybe, adding a few new fans along the way.

“It’s a perfect opportunity to make the moment a movement,” said former Division I guard Isis Young, now a broadcaster and analyst. “Right now, women’s basketball is a movement ... and the movement is really riding on the back of these players that we’re watching.”

And make no mistake, people were watching. Baseball had a no-hitter on Monday night, but Ronel Blanco’s gem for the Houston Astros against the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t seem to capture attention the way IowaLSU and UConn-USC did.

Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns scored 52 points, his third game with 50 or more this season, while fellow NBA guards Damian Lillard and Patrick Beverley were tweeting about Watkins and Clark. “Caitlin Clark the truth,” offered New York Knicks forward Josh Hart.