Angel Reese probably wasn’t playing mind games with Caitlin Clark by placing a crown on LSU’s bench

Fans thought Angel Reese was sending a message to Caitlin Clark, but she wears a crown before every LSU game.

The rivalry between arguably the two biggest stars in women’s college basketball — Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese — is set to renew in the Elite Eight on Monday night.

We’re sure to see quite a bit of trash talk between the pair as we did during last year’s national title game, which was won by LSU. But after a pre-game moment caught fire on social media, some fans thought Reese was getting the mind games started early.

While Iowa was warming up, Reese placed a crown on the Tigers’ bench, appearing to send a message to the Clark and the Hawkeyes as they look to get their revenge for last April’s 17-point loss in the national championship game.

As she arrived for warmups, Angel Reese just placed this crown on the LSU bench while Caitlin Clark warms up in Albany pic.twitter.com/EZphO8WGhi

— Sara Germano (@germanotes) April 1, 2024

Reese wears the same crown during every game’s starting lineup introductions, and she also placed one on LSU’s bench before Saturday’s Sweet 16 win over UCLA.

Though it was nothing out of the ordinary from Reese, that didn’t stop fans from speculating that it was meant to play mind games with Clark and Iowa.

Trash talk between the two is nothing new, and Reese’s viral “Ring Me” celebration at the end of last year’s game has been one of the most lasting college basketball images in recent memory. Reese also mocked Clark’s “you can’t see me” celebration in that game.

Even the Iowa band got in on it before the game, playing the banned LSU anthem “Neck.”

Both have said there’s nothing personal behind the trash talk, merely two of the top competitors in the nation going at it. But personal or not, we’re almost certainly set to see an intense game between the defending champions and the favored Hawkeyes seeking revenge.