What did Caitlin Clark say to critics of women's sports? Iowa star's powerful message following 'Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year' award

Caitlin Clark has done a whole lot to increase interest in women's basketball around the world. Alongside Angel Reese, the two athletes have drawn viewers to college women's basketball like never before.

When accepting her Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award, Clark perfectly encapsulated it for those criticizing the sport's competitiveness and popularity. She simply opined:

"If you're not watching women's sports, you're truly missing out."

For a long time, most viewers of college basketball only cared for the men's teams, largely ignoring the women's version. During this year's March Madness, the women's Final Four saw a 72% jump in viewership from last year.

The matchup that everyone was waiting for materialized when Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes met Angel Reese's LUS Tigers in the final. The game was a tale of high-quality basketball with stars like Shaquille O'Neal glued to their screens.

The drama on the court between the two main protagonists, Clark and Reese, raised the profile of the game to new highs. The game was watched by 9.9 million viewers, the most-watched women's basketball game ever.

Angel Reese doing the 'you can't see me' gesture popularized by John Cena and imitated by Clark in the win against Louisville lit the touch paper. Reese tapping her ring finger almost broke Twitter.

Women's basketball, specifically college women's basketball, was being discussed everywhere.

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Caitlin Clark is taking women's basketball to new highs

Even after falling just tantalizingly short of her goal to win the national championship, Caitlin Clark was gracious in defeat. She even defended Angel Reese, who has been termed her arch-nemesis, from the backlash of her gestures.

The fallout from the game continued for weeks, with Angel Reese bearing the brunt of the criticism. After accepting her John Wooden award for the best women's college basketball player, Clark again went on the warpath defending Reese.

LSU v Iowa

She explained:

"We’re all competitive. We all show our emotions in a different way. Angel’s a tremendous, tremendous player. I have nothing but respect for her. I love her game, the way she rebounds the ball, scores the ball is absolutely incredible."

"I’m a big fan of her. Even the whole LSU team, the way they played. I don’t think there should be any criticism for what she did,” Clark added.

With two of college basketball's biggest stars still a year away from declaring for the WNBA draft, the interest in the sport is bound to grow exponentially.

We're all ready for Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes versus Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers in round 2.