ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The year-long wild ride that has been LSU women’s basketball is over — for now.
The defending national champion Tigers (31-6) fell one game short of returning to the Final Four with a 94-87 loss to Iowa on Monday night, almost a year after beating the Hawkeyes and star Caitlin Clark for the title.
In between, coach Kim Mulkey and her players made headlines on and off the court and become symbols for a new, brash generation of college stars — none more so than star forward Angel Reese.
“No matter which way it went tonight, I know this was going to be a night for the ages,” said Reese, who finished with 17 points, 20 rebounds and four assists despite spraining her right ankle in the first half. “And just being able to be a part of history is great.”
But the 6-foot-3 junior, who said she has not yet decided whether to come back for another season, also talked about the negatives that have followed her since she burst onto the scene as a trash-talking, unapologetic, extremely talented baller during last year’s tournament.
“I’ve been through so much,” Reese said through tears. “I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times, death threats, I’ve been sexualized, I’ve been threatened, I’ve been so many things, and I’ve stood strong every single time.”
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A few games after a season-opening loss to No. 3 Colorado in Las Vegas, Reese was suspended four games by Mulkey for unspecified, basketball-related conduct.
LSU lost several key players from its national title-winning team to graduation, including guard Alexis Morris and forward LaDazhia Williams.
But Mulkey restocked the roster with high-profile recruits, including Mikaylah Williams and transfers Hailey Van Lith from Louisville and Aneesah Morrow from DePaul.
They all eventually jelled, with Reese as their leader.
“I’ve never seen people wish bad things on someone as much as her, and it does not affect her,” Van Lith said. “She comes to practice every day. She lives her life every day. She lives how she wants to live, and she don’t let nobody change that. That’s the key to life right there.”
The Tigers bounced back to have a solid season, losing in the Southeastern Conference Tournament final to unbeaten South Carolina. They entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed and were trying to become the first back-to-back champions since UConn won its fourth straight in 2016.
Mulkey continued to be a polarizing figure. The four-time national title-winning coach threatened during the tournament to sue The Washington Post over a profile of her that had yet to be published. Her attacks on the media found a more sympathetic audience, however, when she criticized the Los Angeles Times for a column characterizing her players as villains. The newspaper edited the column, and the writer apologized.
Everyone on Mulkey’s roster can come back next year, if they wish, though that is unlikely.
Sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson, who scored 23 points against Iowa, said she and others who do return will learn from Monday’s setback.
“It’s not all the time you get to see players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese,” Johnson said. “I’m just blessed. Last year I was a freshman seeing everything. This year I’m a sophomore able to contribute. Next year I’m going to leave my mark, grow the game.”
Raising the profile of women’s basketball is something Mulkey said her team has already accomplished.
“We’ve changed, people, we’ve changed. And we’ve changed in so many good ways,” she said. “These young people will have a memory of being a part of something that was this great tonight, many of them being a part of winning a championship last year. I can’t describe to you how good it is right now in women’s basketball. That’s why I wished this game could have been at the Final Four. Wow. Sure was good for an Elite Eight game.”
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
