Survive and advance. For the second year in a row, coach Kim Mulkey and the Tigers are moving on to the Elite Eight, but even despite the incredible accomplishment, the media was focused a bit more on off-court matters once the clock hit zero. Following their Sweet 16 win over No. 2 UCLA (27-7), No. 3 LSU (31-5) women’s basketball star forward Angel Reese shared some thoughts on her team and what they’ve meant to her in 2024.
LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese doesn’t care what you think of her team in 2024
The concept of “good vs. evil” was floating around quite a bit on social media following the LSU women’s basketball 78-69 victory over UCLA on Saturday afternoon.
It wasn’t because of anything in particular that had happened on the court during the Sweet 16. It wasn’t even due to something that had occurred during the 2024 women’s college basketball season as a whole. Instead, it was due to the words of a select group of writers who elected to use their voices to villainize a group of women looking to grow the sport they love.
However, while social media spent their Saturday mornings wondering how it would impact coach Kim Mulkey and her squad in their matchup vs. the Bruins of Los Angeles, it may have just brought the group closer together.
“We’re the good villains,” LSU women’s basketball star forward Angel Reese said during the postgame media availability.
“Everybody wants to beat LSU. Everybody wants to be LSU. Everybody want’s to play against LSU. You’ve gotta realize, we’re not any regular basketball team. Coach talks about it all the time. She calls us the Beatles, like, people are running after our bus, people are coming at games, you’re seeing sellouts, you’re seeing people buying jerseys, you’re seeing more sellouts than the men.”
During the 2019-2020 season, the Tigers saw modest attendance numbers, averaging right around 2,000 fans per game. Over the last four seasons, that numbers has increased dramatically, reaching over 11,000 fans on average this past season.
“We’re impacting the game so much and all of us are just super competitive and want to win and want to do whatever it takes to win. We’re just changing the game. We’re doing the unknown. Me, being able to be on the court, but also off the court, I like to model and do other things. I can do both. Flau’jae (Johnson) can do both. Aneesah (Morrow) can do both. We can all do both, and that’s what people don’t believe in.
“They don’t think that we’re focused, and we prove every single night, when we get between those lines, we’re focused. That’s what we’re worried about. So, just being able to have teammates that have my back, have teammates, have coaches that just have each others’ back this whole time; I don’t care what the outside thinks. I know what’s going on in that locker room.”
Even despite the abundance of off-court distractions that could have potentially derailed the LSU women’s basketball season in 2024, the Tigers find themselves with a record of 31-5, which has already included a trip to the 2024 SEC Tournament Championship and most recently, a bid to the Elite Eight.
Growing the game and giving fans someone to look up to
The game of basketball isn’t only something that’s growing on the court. It’s creating opportunity for women throughout the country when it comes to overall brand recognition, and in turn, inspiring future generations to potentially continue the build.
“I know I’ve impacted so many different people,” Reese continued on Saturday afternoon. “Young black girls that look up in New York City – like you said – and see Angel Reese; they know they can do this. They know they can be in this position one day.”
There are more celebrities in the sport of women’s college basketball than ever before, and the numbers are continuing to grow each year. Last season, the big names included South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Boston has since moved on to the WNBA, but in her place, new stars were born. Talented freshmen JuJu Watkins (USC) and Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), among so many others have recently burst onto the scene, and now fans will get the joy of watching them for three more seasons.
This isn’t a trend that’s going away, either. As more stars pop up in the sport, more eyes will be drawn to it and we’ll soon see more of the younger generation following in their footsteps.
“Since the national championship, we haven’t had peace. And it’s crazy to say that we won at the highest level in college, and we haven’t had peace, but I wouldn’t want to change this day. I wouldn’t want to change where we are right now, I wouldn’t want to change the three letters across my chest cause it means something. And I want to be a part of history.
I want to be a part of this culture, this sisterhood and just keep winning, and winning, and winning. When we look back in 40 years and when we’re old and sitting in our rocking chair, like coach (Kim) Mulkey always say, and just be like, ‘We did that. We made history. We were a part of that, and we were trailblazers.'”
When it comes to growing the game, few brands have been bigger over the last two seasons than that of LSU women’s basketball. From legendary coach Kim Mulkey, to star forward Angel Reese, to young talents like sophomore Flau’jae Johnson and freshman Mikaylah Williams; the Tigers are truly changing how the world views women’s sports.
And now, even amongst all of the said off-court distractions, the group still has one ultimate goal in mind: another national championship. The purple and gold will take the court yet again for one of the most anticipated matchups in recent history, as No. 3 LSU (31-5) will face off against No. 1 Iowa (32-4) on ESPN on Monday, April 1, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. CST.
So no, there’s nothing “good vs. evil” about it. It’s going to be a battle, and there will be plenty of passion involved throughout the two hour matchup. Even so, it will ultimately be yet another step in building the sport of women’s college basketball, and it’s bound to be something you won’t want to miss.
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