LSU women’s basketball fans have been wondering where is Angel Reese? After stealing Louisiana’s hearts by leading LSU to victory, the forward hasn’t had the best start to this season.
The last time Reese suited up was on Tuesday, Nov.14 against Kent State. The Tigers won, but Reese only played 13 minutes and scored 11 points before Head Coach Kim Mulkey benched her. Mulkey declined to explain what happened.
“I could but I won’t. Just a coach’s decision,” Mulkey said.
Three days later, on Nov.17, LSU faced Southeastern Louisiana. The purple and gold rose to a 73-50 victory, but they did it without Reese, who did not travel to Hammond. Once again, Mulkey gave little explanation.
“Angel is part of this basketball team and we hope to see her sooner than later,” Mulkey said.
When reporters pressed her she continued “that’s all you need to know.”
Reese then took to social media two days later. She tweeted “Please don’t believe everything you read.”
The next day, Nov. 20, Reese’s teammates swept Texas Southern 106- 47, again without the breakout star. In a postgame press conference, Mulkey pointed to locker room issues but did not expand on why Reese missed the game.
“Sometimes you know about it, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you want to know more than you’re entitled to know,” Mulkey said. “I’m going to protect my players. They are more important, it’s like a family. Let me ask you this. If you do some disciplining of your own children do you think we’re entitled to know that?”
The tigers will travel to the Cayman Islands for a tournament next. Their first game is Friday against Niagara, but it’s unclear if Reese will play or travel with the team.
We reached out to LSU Sports for comment but they referred us to Mulkey’s comments from Monday night.
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