After an NCAA Tournament dominated by historic upsets, unparalleled drama and the record-breaking heroics of Caitlin Clark, the the refereeing became an unfortunate headline the championship game, an eventual 102-85 win for LSU.
Clark herself was at the center of the drama. The Iowa superstar picked up a technical foul on this seemingly innocuous action late in the third quarter:
Caitlin Clark received a technical for this moment.
— ESPN (@espn) April 2, 2023
Do you agree? pic.twitter.com/yjxeDDTFU7
What made this call especially troubling -- especially for Iowa -- was that technical fouls also come with a personal foul, and it was the fourth personal foul of the game for Clark, one shy of disqualification. She sat out until the end of the quarter and ended up finishing the game without fouling out, but the technical cost her team two points via Alexis Morris free throws.
Iowa coach Lisa Bluder didn't directly criticize the officiating, but she did call the situation frustrating.
"I didn't even feel like I could talk to them...like they wouldn't even listen you know? That's what's frustrating is that there wasn't even a conversation that could be had. But you know when your two seniors have to sit on the bench...I get it but I don't know those two women's didn't deserve that…I just don't think so….and Caitlin getting a T? I don't know it's too bad," Bluder said.
Several women's college basketball greats did not seem to agree with the referees' calls.
"Here's the T on Caitlin Clark... I mean... you have GOT to be kidding me." - @RyanRuocco
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 2, 2023
"No player in this game should get a technical foul for that." - @RebeccaLobo pic.twitter.com/qQuJD6bUTz
I am in complete disbelief at what I am witnessing in this game. How does that technical foul - among many others - even get consideration. Literally cannot believe this.
— StaceyDales (@StaceyDales) April 2, 2023
Refs please stop inserting yourselves in this game!
— Elena Delle Donne (@De11eDonne) April 2, 2023
tbh refs ain’t been good since COVID 🙃
— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) April 2, 2023
these refs may not work another nationally televised game again.
— Lexie Brown (@Lexiebrown) April 2, 2023
These refs……
— Sabrina Ionescu (@sabrina_i20) April 2, 2023
Please refs, let the players be the stars of this game. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!
— Angel Gray (@Angel_Gray1) April 2, 2023
Kramer Robertson, son of LSU coach Kim Mulkey and a second baseman in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization, was also unimpressed.
It’s the referee show
— Kramer Robertson (@KramerR3) April 2, 2023
Still, compare Clark's technical to Mulkey going uncalled for making contact with a referee.
If this isn’t a T, what is? pic.twitter.com/WDCcwyHFhP
— Andy Garman (@GarmanSports) April 2, 2023
Clark, of course, wasn't the only star on the wrong end of some tough calls. LSU's Angel Reese -- who went on to win Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament -- got hit with two early fouls, the second of which was especially questionable at best.
Angel Reese was called for her 2nd foul on this play 🤔 pic.twitter.com/vPZ7pOQs8O
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) April 2, 2023
Reese did not play the rest of the first quarter following that foul and sat for the entire second quarter as well.
Throughout the game, there were plenty of other impactful calls that went awry or were simply missed. Referees reviewed post moves by both Reese and Monika Czinano for potential forceful use of an elbow. Both could have easily been offensive fouls, but the call on the floor can't be overruled via replay, and neither player received a flagrant foul, which actually was probably the right decision. Czinano, a first-team All-Big Ten selection, dealt with foul trouble early and often and ultimately fouled out, as did fellow Hawkeyes' frontcourt starter McKenna Warnock.
The overall numbers ended up relatively even: Iowa was called for 19 fouls and LSU 18, and the Tigers took one more free throw than the Hawkeyes (21-20). Despite the high-scoring final, the game was choppy for long stretches, and the officiating made itself a major storyline on the sport's biggest stage.