Angel Reese posts 25-point, 24-rebound, 6-block night as LSU beats UM

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Angel Reese dismantledMichigan on both ends of the court with 25 points, 24 rebounds, sixblocks and three steals to help third-seeded LSU beat the No. 6seed Wolverines 66-42 Sunday night in the second round of thewomen’s NCAA Tournament.

Reese, a 6-foot-3 All-America forward, did most of her damagewith gauze wedged under her upper lip after a shot to her mouthdrew blood in the opening minutes of the game.

Alexis Morris scored 11 and LaDazhia Williams had 10 points and10 rebounds for LSU (30-2), which never trailed and held Michigan(23-10) to its lowest point total of the season.

In just their second season under coach Kim Mulkey, the Tigersadvanced past the second round of the tournament for the first timesince 2014 and will meet second seed Utah in the Greenville 2regional semifinal.

Laila Phelia scored 20 points for Michigan, which opened thesecond half with a 7-0 run to pull as close as eight points, butquickly went back down by double-digits for good after Reese’slayup and Kateri Poole’s 3.

Reese played with relentless determination, three times chasingdriving Michigan players down the lane to swat their shots awayfrom behind.

She was a menace to Michigan rebounders on both ends of thecourt. She grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. And after one, EmilyKiser was called for an intentional foul when she knocked Reese tothe floor on a putback attempt.

LSU had 18 second-chance points to Michigan’s 2, and althoughboth teams shot 35%, LSU got off 68 shots to Michigan’s 46.

Leading by only a few points early on, the Tigers took over inthe second quarter. Jasmine Carson hit three 3s for LSU, which hadmissed its first eight from deep. Her third put LSU up 23-9,prompting Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico to call timeout.

That stunted LSU’s momentum only briefly before Reese scoredLSU’s next seven points on a short jumper, a putback, an explosivedrive to the hoop and a free throw to put the Tigers up 30-15 athalftime.

ROUGH START

The first quarter was a defensive struggle in which both teamslooked prepared to exert as much physical force as official wouldpermit. Reese took an inadvertent shot to the mouth under thebasket. She continued intermittently rubbing her lip and looking ather finger tips to check for blood for much the quarter. Later, shelost one of her eyelash extensions while tangled up inside withKiser and Leigha Brown.

Reese delivered punishment, too, flattening Kiser on a drivedown the lane. Kiser drew the charge, but stayed down for severalmoments, placing her hand on the part of her upper body thatapparently took the blow, before teammates helped her up.

BIG PICTURE

Michigan: After reaching the regional finals last season and andthe regional semifinals in 2021, Michigan’s tournament ended in thesecond round for the first time since 2019. The Wolverines’previous scoring low this season was 52 in a loss at Indiana onFeb. 16. They finished

LSU: Mulkey is now 3-0 against Barnes Arico in the NCAATournament, with each meeting coming since 2018 and two whileMulkey was at Baylor, where she won three national titles.Outrebounded Michigan 46-26.