For the first time in NCAA history, the women's basketball final garnered more views than the men's championship game, per data from Nielsen.
The big picture: The breakthrough numbers come as Iowa guard Caitlin Clark is driving unprecedented momentum around women's sports, Axios' Sara Fischer and Noah Bressner report.
A whopping 18.7 million people watched the South Carolina-Iowa women's NCAA title game on Sunday — a new record for a women's college game and a five-year high for any basketball broadcast, according to ESPN.
Why it matters: The unique star power of Iowa guard Caitlin Clark — hailed as one of the greatest college hoops players of all time — is driving unprecedented momentum around women's sports.
The UConn Huskies beat the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60 to win their second consecutive men's NCAA title.
Why it matters: The Huskies are the first repeat champions in college basketball since the Florida Gators in 2007 and the eighth school to achieve the March Madness feat. It's UConn's sixth national title.
A national athletics association for smaller private colleges and universities around the U.S. adopted a new policy on Monday that bans transgender athletes from women's sports.
Why it matters: The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is believed to be the first national collegiate athletic governing body adopt such a policy.
