The seventh-ranked Tigers were without LSU All-America forward Angel Reese on their brief road trip to Southeast Louisiana on Friday night.
“Angel is part of this basketball team, and we hope to see her sooner than later,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said after the Tigers defeated the Lady Lions 73-50.
Mulkey declined to elaborate further or answer any more queries regarding Reese. Interviews with LSU players following the game were not granted.
Reese was benched for the second half of LSU’s 109-79 victory over Kent State on Tuesday, which led to her unexpected absence from the starting lineup. Mulkey did not provide further details, characterizing that as a “coach’s decision”.
Reese had averaged 17 points and 10.3 rebounds in his first four starts for LSU, which went 3-1 in those games.
Reese is from Maryland. She played varsity basketball for four years at St. Francis Academy before enrolling in the University of Maryland for her college education.
The 6-foot-3-inch forward then transferred to LSU, where she won a national championship and was recognized as an All-American and the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.
Reese, dubbed the “Bayou Barbie” and well-known for her manicures on her pink fingernails and eyelash extensions, guided LSU to its first-ever national championship in women’s basketball last season. She is among the highest-paid female collegiate athlete after using her fame to secure endorsement deals worth more than $1 million for her name, likeness, and image.
Reese became just the fourth player in league history to lead the Southeastern Conference in both scoring (23 points per game) and rebounding (15.4 per game) during the previous campaign.
Her 34 double-doubles that season broke the NCAA record, and her 23 straight double-doubles to start the previous season broke the 19-year record held by Sylvia Fowles at LSU.
