Last-Tear Poa won a national championship with LSU, and now she’s ready to do it again

Jed Wells

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Last-Tear Poa won a national championship with LSU, and now she’s ready to do it again image

What do you do after you win a national championship game, becoming the first women’s team to break the 100-point mark in a championship game, and playing in the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history?

If you’re Last-Tear Poa, you get ready to do it all again. 

In 2023, Poa and the Louisiana State University Tigers captured the attention of the entire sporting world en route to the university’s first-ever national championship, a resounding win over the Iowa Hawkeyes. 

For the 21-year-old Australian, scaling this mountain took a monumental effort, but reaching the top - and everything that came after - was worth all that and more. 

It was a journey that began in the suburbs of Melbourne, commonly known as a hotbed of Australian basketball talent.

“I started off at Collingwood, it's inner city, and I was playing there for a little bit and then I ended up going to Melbourne Tigers and I was playing there to under 12s. Then once I hit under 14s, I went to Dandenong Rangers, I've been there ever since,” Poa said. 

“But since I was 13, I was playing with WNBL players, so it gave me more experiences and just learning different people and just learning off them and their styles of plays. Then I went to [junior college] for two years. My first year as a freshman, won it, got MVP. Then this year I won another [national championship] at a D1 level.”

Poa’s success at the junior college level, for Northwest Florida State College, paved the way for her to become an LSU Tiger, donning the iconic purple and gold. 

But the universe may have guided her to the University much before she realised, with the help of another Australian. 

“When Ben Simmons came down here and played at Dandenong, I actually took a photo with him and I have an LSU jumper wearing it right next to him while he has his uniform on,” she said.

“So I think just looking back at it, I'm like, it was a sign. But it was just years to come.”

Once she arrived in Louisiana, one of college basketball’s most iconic cities, the reality of playing for the Tigers truly set in. But one thing that she wasn’t ready for was the energy of the fans, playing inside the so-called ‘Deaf Dome’. 

“[The fans] are insane. They're so in love with it. They're involved, they're into it, and I think them being involved with it makes us more excited coming to the games. We're pumped up, we're ready. But just seeing them and how they support us, it's so insane. The boosters, how they come and support us. We're well loved.”

This love reached fever pitch during the 2022-23 season, when the team stormed to their first-ever national championship, shattering records left, right, and centre. 

“It was insane. Being in front of millions of people, let alone to say we won the whole thing. It was such a dream come true. My family and I worked really hard for this and well deserved,” Poa said. 

“I feel like even this win hasn't really sunk in yet. I know it's been a couple of months now, but it still doesn't feel real.

“It was actually really fun to be a part of that and to see everything and how it all fell into place. But it was insane.”

But possibly even bigger than the accomplishment were the celebrations that followed for Poa and her team. 

“We actually went back to the hotel. We had a little parade at the hotel. Then straight after, we just went out for the whole night. We were out all night and just celebrating until we got on the plane, still celebrated. Then we went to another parade when we got back to Louisiana,” she said. 

But once you win one, there’s only one thing left to do - go and win another one. And that’s exactly what Poa and LSU plan to do.

Jed Wells

Jed Wells Photo

Jed is a writer and social media producer, who has a keen interest in the intersection of sports and popular culture, especially basketball.