(CNN) Louisiana State University star Angel Reese says neither she nor her team would attend the White House after the Tigers defeated the University of Iowa’s Hawkeyes 102-85 and won their first NCAA women’s basketball national championship .
Traditionally, the national champions were invited to the White House. But following comments from First Lady Jill Biden, who suggested Iowa should be invited as well before appearing to return that, Reese told I AM ATHLETE podcast hosts Brandon Marshall and Ashley Nicole Moss, “I accept the apology not because you said what you said… you can’t fall back on certain things you say… you can have that spotlight. We’re going to the Obamas. We’re going to Michelle’s. We see Barack.”
Reese, who was named the women’s tournament’s most outstanding player for her outstanding performances, also said separately: “All I know is that if the roles were reversed they wouldn’t be the same. If we lost, we wouldn’t be invited to the White House.”
But on Wednesday, the school’s athletics department said they would “certainly accept an invitation.”
On Monday, Biden congratulated both teams on their performance in Sunday’s national championship game, noting in particular the sportsmanship of Iowa.
“Last night I attended the NCAA women’s basketball championship,” Biden said while speaking at an event at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
“So I know we’re going to let the champions come to the White House, we always do. So let’s hope LSU comes, but you know, I’ll tell Joe [Biden] I think Iowa should come too because they played such a good game.”
Reese, a 20-year-old forward, responded to Biden’s comments Monday calling them “A JOKE,” and in an Instagram post from The Shade Room, the recently crowned NCAA champion commented, “WE’RE NOT COMING. “
By Tuesday, Biden appeared to be backing down on comments with the first lady’s press secretary, Vanessa Valdivia saying in a tweet that they should “applaud the historic game and all female athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers at the White House as they win the championship.”
President Biden had previously said that LSU would be invited to the White House alongside the men’s NCAA champion, the University of Connecticut.
Reese’s teammate Alex Morris went to twitter to ask Michelle Obama if her team could celebrate the win at her house after Barack tweeted his congratulations to the team.
After LSU’s win on Sunday, head coach Kim Mulkey said she would go to the White House if the team was invited.
A spokesman for the Obamas declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark said Tuesday that Iowa should not be invited to the White House.
“I don’t think runners-up usually go to the White House. I think LSU should enjoy this moment for them and congratulations, of course they deserve to go there. Maybe I could go to the White House on different terms though,” Clark said. “This is for LSU. It’s a pretty cool moment and they should enjoy every second of being a champion.”
CNN’s Jacob Lev, David Lauterbach, Ben Morse and Wayne Sterling contributed coverage.