Alexis Morris: LSU to punish Iowa's 'disrespectful' defense

DALLAS — LSU guard Alexis Morris said Saturday she thought it was «disrespectful» the way the Iowa Hawkeyes dared the South Carolina guards to make their shots in Iowa's Final Four victory, saying the Hawkeyes would have to play the Tigers differently in the national championship game.

Iowa decided to shut down the paint in its 77-73 upset win over the No. 1 Gamecocks, and the plan worked. In particular, the Hawkeyes focused on letting point guard Raven Johnson try and beat them. In one clip that has made its way around social media, Caitlin Clark is seen disregarding Johnson with a flick of her wrist and stepping back — essentially leaving Johnson completely unguarded.

«I watched the game, and I'm watching them guard South Carolina. I don't think they can guard us that way,» Morris said. «I don't think you can just leave me open on the perimeter or leave us open on the perimeter. Me personally, I find it very disrespectful, so I'm going to take that personally going into that game. You're going to have to guard us. That's just the competitor in me, and the will to win.»

Clark said the specific game plan against South Carolina was a «pick your poison» choice.

«We're not going to guard LSU the same way we guarded South Carolina,» Clark said. «Obviously, with South Carolina, you've got to pick your poison. If they were going to beat us, we were going to let it be by the 3-point line. You have to pick and choose your battles. We can't guard everything. That's the game of basketball. You have a scout. You know player personnel. What are you going to give up? That's what we were going to give up. We had all the respect in the world for South Carolina, and especially their post play.»

LSU is a better perimeter shooting team