Iowa and LSU met in the NCAA Tournament title game in 2023, with Angel Reese and Kim Mulkey's Lady Tigers beating Caitlin Clark and Lisa Bluder's Hawkeyes in a 102-85 rout.
Now, the two squads are gearing up for another NCAA Tournament meeting in 2024. This time it will be in the Elite Eight and there will be a new wrinkle to the rivalry that was born during the 2023 championship game.
As Clark and Co. look to exact revenge on Reese's squad, LSU's Hailey Van Lith will look to get vengeance of her own. She faced Clark in the Elite Eight last season while she was with Louisville, and the two were involved in an incident that received a lot of attention from media personalities and basketball fans alike.
Some believed Clark showed up Van Lith after making a sixth 3-pointer in Iowa's 14-point win over Louisville in that contest. It became a particularly hot topic after Reese was met with vitriol for doing the same thing to Clark during LSU's national championship win.
MORE: Angel Reese's trash talk frustrates UCLA bench in LSU's March Madness win
What happened in the Clark and Van Lith incident? Here's what to know about the rivalry between the Iowa and Louisville-turned-LSU guards.
Caitlin Clark vs. Hailey Van Lith beef history, explained
Many presumed that Clark and Van Lith might have beef because of Clark's John Cena celebration during Iowa's Elite Eight win over Louisville in 2023.
Clark celebrated making her sixth 3-point shot in Iowa's 97-83 win by hitting Cena's "You Can't See Me" celebration. It went viral, as most big-time moments involving the Iowa star typically do.
Caitlin Clark hit the "You can't see me" after her sixth 3 👀 pic.twitter.com/gIUOoqZiot
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) March 27, 2023
As the clip circulated, many came to believe that Clark directed the celebration at Van Lith. The then-Louisville star was walking past Clark's gaze and to the Louisville bench, and that led basketball fans to wonder whether Clark and Van Lith had beef.
In reality, the rivalry between the two was friendly. Van Lith ironically acknowledged that she "didn't even see" Clark's gesture during the game. Van Lith also revealed that Clark's gestured wasn't directed at her, as Van Lith detailed in an interview with Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks.
"It was actually hilarious because right after the game I texted her and was like 'The media is dumb,'" Van Lith said. "'They just make stuff up.' ... We were laughing about it because she did it to her strength coach. Like she didn't do it to anyone on our team. Especially me, definitely not towards me."
“We laughed about it after. … I didn’t even know what happened until I saw it over Instagram later.”
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 12, 2023
Hailey Van Lith on her reaction to Cailtin Clark’s “you can’t see me” hand gesture 😂
(via @TaylorRooks) pic.twitter.com/vqxVaZLK3b
But if Clark had made the gesture in Van Lith's direction?
"That would've been hilarious," Van Lith said.
That clash between Clark and Van Lith was the only one from their college careers to date. Thus, it doesn't seem that there is actual beef between the two as they prepare to square off in the Elite Eight for a second time.
MORE: Caitlin Clark's history of trash talk, explained
Caitlin Clark stats vs. Hailey Van Lith stats
In their one previous head-to-head meeting, Clark outplayed Van Lith. The Iowa star poured in a 41-point triple-double while Van Lith posted a respectable 27 points in the Cardinals' defeat.
Below is a look at what each accomplished during that game:
| Stat | Caitlin Clark | Hailey Van Lith |
| Points | 41 | 27 |
| Rebounds | 10 | 2 |
| Assists | 12 | 3 |
| Steals | 3 | 0 |
| Blocks | 0 | 0 |
| Turnovers | 9 | 5 |
| Field goals | 11-19 (57.9%) | 8-19 (42.1%) |
| 3-point field goals | 8-14 (57.1%) | 3-9 (33.3%) |
And below is a look at how the two stacked up head-to-head during the 2023-24 college basketball season:
| Stat | Caitlin Clark | Hailey Van Lith |
| Points | 31.8 | 11.8 |
| Rebounds | 7.3 | 2.5 |
| Assists | 8.8 | 3.6 |
| Steals | 1.8 | 1.3 |
| Blocks | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Turnovers | 4.9 | 2.6 |
| Field goal % | 45.6 | 39.0 |
| 3-point % | 37.9 | 35.5 |
Clark may have the upper hand on Van Lith overall, but both are still viewed as WNBA-level prospects. Clark figures to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft while Van Lith will be either a first- or second-round pick if she declares for the draft.
