LSU basketball: Angel Reese has big night as Tigers avenge December loss to Auburn
By John Fye
A day after storming the court in support of the men’s upset win over Kentucky, Angel Reese was locking horns with the Auburn Tigers. The LSU women’s basketball team fell to Auburn back in December. Reese wasn’t going to let that happen twice in a season.
Reese scored 25 points and snagged 20 rebounds for her 17th double-double of the season. Last-Tear Poa was second in LSU scoring with 13 points and an assist. Sophomore Flau’jae Johnson scored 11 points and added a pair of assists.
Auburn did not make it easy for Kim Mulkey’s Tigers. Senior guard Honesty Scott-Grayson was fantastic, scoring 28 points in 33 minutes, including five 3-pointers.
Next. Story Link. Why Angel Reese has discontinued “Bayou Barbie” nickname. dark
Scott-Grayson had her team out to a 28-25 lead in the second quarter, but Reese and company engaged in a 15-2 run that closed with Johnson nailing a 3-pointer as the second quarter clock expired. LSU took a 40-30 lead to halftime.
LSU women’s basketball allowed Auburn to hang around much of the second half. Mulkey was critical of her late-game coaching decisions but credited Reese for stepping up against the orange Tigers.
“And I think in practice, she’s really stepped up,” the LSU coach said of Reese.
“And I saw it again the night she’s like, I need the ball. I need the ball. Like they can’t get it to you. We’re trying. So, just a competitor that didn’t want to lose again to the same team that understands her career is winding down at LSU.”
Mulkey’s comments suggest that her star forward is headed to the WNBA after this season. Recently, we wondered if women’s college basketball stars like Reese and Caitlin Clark would remain in college because of the lucrative NIL market.
Speaking of Clark, she and the Iowa Hawkeyes lost their fourth game of the season, an 86-69 defeat to Indiana. We’re eager to see Clark’s team drop in the AP Top 25 teens like LSU women’s basketball did.