DALLAS — LSU sophomore Angel Reese is nicknamed “Bayou Barbie” and has the glamorous appearance to go along with it, wearing lip gloss and eyelash extensions on the court and having her nails done for every game.
She even has merchandise to go along with that nickname, part of her lucrative and lavish lifestyle that includes colossal sponsorship deals. A report from SponsorUnited showed that Reese has the most NIL (name, image and likeness) deals of any college basketball player in the country — male or female — and her total NIL valuation is $392,000, according to the website On3 that tracks NIL deals and money.
Her brand will be even more appealing after the way she played in the second half Friday against Virginia Tech in the women’s Final Four’s first semifinal.
Reese had 24 points on 11-for-19 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds as LSU rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit to beat top-seeded Virginia Tech, 79-72, at a jam-packed American Airlines Center. With all of women’s college basketball world watching, LSU advanced to the national championship game for the first time after outscoring top-seeded Virginia Tech 29-13 in the fourth quarter.
Reese’s layup early in the fourth quarter brought LSU to within two, and another layup not long after cut Virginia Tech’s lead to one. When freshman Flau’Jae Johnson got a steal and layup with 5:44 remaining, LSU had its first lead since the second quarter.
Reese extended the lead to 68-62 with a put-back of her own miss with 4:20 remaining, then added two free throws to make it an eight-point advantage. Her layup with 1:36 left gave LSU a nine-point advantage and sealed the deal.
Reese got plenty of help from fifth-year senior guard Alexis Morris, who previously played at Baylor (under coach Kim Mulkey), Rutgers and Texas A&M. Morris, who averages 14.9 points and was coming off a 21-point game in the Elite Eight against Miami, scored a game-high 27 points as LSU continued its meteoric turnaround under coach Mulkey following a nine-win season two years ago.
As Morris dribbled out the clock, LSU players converged and shared hugs and chest bumps. Morris then went over the media table, hopped up and lifted her arms in celebration, encouraging the raucous crowd of LSU fans to get even louder.
LSU dominated in the paint, outscoring Virginia Tech 54-14. LSU held the Hokies to 2-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter while the Tigers were 11-for-18 shooting from the field
Virginia Tech junior guard Georgia Amoore, a 5-6 dynamo from Australia, had been one of the best players in the NCAA Tournament, making 20 3-pointers in her first four games. Amoore broke the record for 3-pointers made in the NCAA Tournament when she hit her 23rd long-range shot of the competition with 6:49 left in the third quarter. Morris got the defensive assignment on Amoore and held her to 17 points on 4-for-17 shooting from the field and 4-for-15 shooting from 3-point range.
Mulkey had preached this week about how the SEC was disrespected, but there will be no problems with that now after a dominant performance against a top-seeded Virginia Tech team that was making its first Final Four appearance.
LSU (33-2) was appearing in its sixth Final Four, but not even the great Seimone Augustus or Sylvia Fowles — who have six WNBA titles and 14 WNBA All-Star selections between them — could ever get LSU to that final game.
Mulkey, in her second season at LSU, expected success in her new home, but this turnaround has come quicker than anticipated. That’s because Reese is arguably the best player in women’s basketball not named Caitlin Clark or Aliyah Boston.
The 6-3 forward averaged 22.3 points and 17.3 rebounds through the first four rounds of the NCAA Tournament. In the opening round, she tied Fowles’ LSU NCAA Tournament record with 34 points.
While Reese gets dolled up off the court, the transfer from Maryland is rough and tough in the post, and in the final two quarters she got the best of the much-hyped matchup of All-Americans against Virginia Tech 6-6 center Elizabeth Kitley in LSU’s first Final Four appearance since 2008. Reese extended her SEC record for double-doubles this season to 33, while Kitley, a two-time ACC Player of the Year, had 18 points and 11 rebounds for her school-record 57th career double-double.
Reese bounced back from a 3-for-15 shooting performance in the Elite Eight win over Miami, a game in which she scored just 13 points. In that game, LSU shot only 30.2% from the field and was 1 for 12 from 3-point range, prompting Mulkey to field a question in a press conference about whether the basketballs seemed overinflated or if there was something wrong with the rubber.
“It’s a little bit different,” Mulkey said.
Her team had no problems shooting against a Virginia Tech defense that was allowing 57.1 points per game and holding opponents to 38% shooting from the field.
Grad student LaDazhia Williams added 16 points and seven rebounds for LSU, but her biggest contribution was her defense on Kitley, who scored only six points in the second half.
Going into Friday, Virginia Tech (31-5) had trailed for just 9 minutes, 27 seconds in the NCAA Tournament — all against Ohio State in the Elite Eight. LSU led most of the first half and was up 32-23 in the second quarter, when the game swung in Virginia Tech’s favor.
Kitley and Kayana Traylor combined for all of the Hokies’ points during an 11-0 run to close the half as Virginia Tech took a 34-32 lead into halftime. Kitley finished the half with 12 points and eight rebounds, compared to 10 points and two rebounds for Reese.
