Angel Reese Says She's 'Never Had Beef' With Caitlin Clark: 'It Helped Grow the Game'

There's no bad blood between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark even if the LSU star talked some trash during her team's 102-85 victory over Iowa in the NCAA women's national championship game.

"Me and her have never had beef; we've always been super competitive every time we play against each other," Reese said during an appearance on ESPN's First Take (50-second mark). "So I think it just helped grow the game. It's fun. She does it. I do it. A lot of players do it. Not just women, but men do it as well."

There was no shortage of discourse after Reese pointed at her ring finger and did the "you can't see me" gesture toward Clark late in the game.

For her part, Clark came to the defense of Reese after the latter faced some criticism for her actions.

"I don't think Angel should be criticized at all. No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I'm just one that competes, and she competed," Clark said on ESPN. "... LSU deserves it. They played so well. Like I said, I'm a big fan of hers."

Reese noted the back-and-forth between the stars can help grow the game, which appeared to be the case.

According to ESPN, it was the most watched NCAA women's basketball game in history with an average of 9.9 million viewers and a peak of 12.6 million viewers:

All those fans got to see Reese do a little bit of everything with 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block as her Tigers won the first national championship in program history.