First Lady Jill Biden wants the Louisiana State Tigers women’s basketball team to be invited to the White House after the Tigers won the NCAA tournament national title Sunday afternoon. Biden also wants to extend an invite to the Iowa Hawkeyes, the team that defeated the Tigers 102-85 in the game, according to the Associated Press.
Biden said Monday in the Colorado state capital of Denver that she is aware of the tradition of inviting championship-winning teams to the White House. However, she added a new wrinkle by suggesting inviting the losing team as well.
“I know the champions are going to come to the White House, we always do. So we’re hoping that LSU will come,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “But you know, I’m going to tell Joe that I think Iowa should come too because they played such a good game.”
Biden sat in the stands at American Airlines Arena to watch the game.
First Lady Jill Biden takes a seat prior to the start of the NCAA Women’s Final Four championship basketball game between LSU and Iowa on Sunday, April 2, 2023 in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)AP
According to the report, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether President Joe Biden would extend an invitation to the Hawkeyes. LSU coach Kim Mulkey said the team would go to the White House if the Tigers were invited.
LSU star Angel Reese, whose gesture to Iowa’s Caitlan Clark near the end of Sunday’s game sparked a firestorm of controversy, indicated she is not a fan of Biden’s proposal.
Biden said women’s college sports have come a long way since Title IX was introduced in 1972 and she wants to celebrate the “exciting” national championship game.
“It was so exciting, wasn’t it?” she said, according to the Associated Press. “It was such a great game. I’m old enough to remember when we got Title IX. We fought so hard, didn’t we? We fought so hard. And look at where women’s sport has evolved today.”
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