Angel Reese returned to the LSU women’s basketball lineup for the first time in more than two weeks on Thursday night. She dropped 19 points with nine rebounds and two assists during an 18-point win over No. 9 Virginia Tech, which was a rematch of last year’s Final Four.
Kim Mulkey became the fastest coach in college basketball history (men’s or women’s) to reach 700 career wins with the Tigers’ dominant performance against the Hokies. The celebration was on once the 61-year-old entered the locker room and there was a lot of love between her and Reese.
That was a theme throughout the night.
Mulkey said that the “team feeds off” Reese as LSU took a six-point lead into halftime and called Reese’s return a “shot in the arm” after the game. Her praise did not stop there.
The 61-year-old head coach had nothing but good things to say about her All American after a 16-day absence from the lineup. It was as if the entire saga never happened. Business as usual.
A lot of (especially negative) things have been said about both Angel Reese and Kim Mulkey in recent weeks. Neither coach nor player, nor LSU, provided any clarity on the situation in real time. That left the door wide open for conjecture and rumors ran rampant. People were quick to attack their character.
Although we still don’t know exactly what happened, it seems as though Mulkey and Reese agreed that it would be best for her to take some time away from the team to get her mind right. There is no bad blood between the two. There was also a lot of support from the home crowd throughout the night.
Reese offered high praise for her coach after the win on Thursday. She also revealed the significant role that Shaquille O’Neal played in the sabbatical.
Following the game, Reese responded to her haters with just one emoji.
🤭
— Angel Reese on X, formerly known as Twitter
All of the chatter surrounding the Tigers, while completely warranted, was silenced on Thursday. LSU had Reese on the court. Reese popped off in a statement win. Mulkey gave her big love.