Q and A: Reese, Williams on LSU's win over Michigan

LSU’s Angel Reese made history in a 66-42 win over Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament

On Sunday, Reese logged 25 points, 24 rebound and six blocks. The performance came after Reese posted 34 points and 15 rebounds against Hawaii on Friday.

She became the first SEC player this century to score at least 30 rebounds and grab 15 rebounds in a women’s NCAA Tournament game.

To take it one step further, Reese became the first player to record at least 25 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a women’s tournament game since 2000.

LaDazhia Williams also played a big role in the win, logging 39 minutes and turning in a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday’s victory over Michigan.

After the game, Reese and Williams met with the media to discuss the win and LSU’s trip to the Sweet 16.

Q. Angel, what exactly was the situation? Was it just your lip, you got elbowed? And how, obviously, did that affect you throughout the game?

ANGEL REESE: I got hit the first play of the game. It wasn’t intentional or anything. Just going up for a rebound and I got hit in the mouth. I tried to run over to the bench as quick as possible to get whatever repaired as much as I could. Got a mouthpiece and got tissue and tried to keep pushing through, so that’s what happened.

Q. Angel and for LaDazhia, was there a bounce-back vibe tonight for y’all? Did y’all feel like knowing what you had at stake tonight that there was some electricity on the team coming into this game?

ANGEL REESE: For me I was hungry. I didn’t want to let my seniors go out on a loss. This means more than me. It’s bigger than me. They had their last game in the Pmac of their career. Just being able to go out there and play as hard as I could and just being out there and leave it all on the floor for them was just the most important thing for me tonight.

LADAZHIA WILLIAMS: I wouldn’t say it was really a bounce-back game. We just executed our preparation and did what we had to do on the defensive end.

Q. Angel, just now back-to-back games in the NCAA Tournament where y’all have defended at a high level. What has changed since even the SEC Tournament as y’all continue to move forward?

ANGEL REESE: Just focus. Staying together as one. I mean, we’ve seen so many different lineups and things. And different defenses. They played us in a zone early on. We had preparation for that early on in practice yesterday and some today in pregame shooting. Just being able to pay attention to detail. It’s win or go home right now. If you are not playing attention and executing plays and doing what we’re supposed to do then we can go home. We want to stay here.

Q. Angel, you talked about your seniors. But what can you say about Flau’jae as a true freshman, what she brought to this game in the biggest game of her career?

ANGEL REESE: I’m proud of Flau’jae. It might not always show up on the stat sheet, but she played great defense. She comes out and she pays attention to detail. She does a lot of film, and it shows. She played 33 minutes. How many fouls did she have? One foul. When Flau’jae doesn’t foul, her maturity has grown so much from the beginning until now. I’m super happy for Flau’jae, and we can’t win without her.

Q. Angel, can you just talk a little bit about what you were telling the team at halftime to make sure that you could close out with the win?

ANGEL REESE: We have been here before. We were up 17 against Tennessee and look what happened. We couldn’t get comfortable. We came out third quarter pretty slow. I think they were on a 5-0 run. Being able to come into the timeout and telling us stay poised, stay together. We have to address this right now so this doesn’t happen again, like it happend in SEC. I think we responded really well.

Q. Both of y’all could answer. LaDazhia, could you start. Just the job Kateri did. She got the start. And I haven’t seen her that engaged for that long all season.

LADAZHIA WILLIAMS: Yeah. Kateri is a big guard for us. She really helped us out on the defensive end shutting down their main player and using her body and her strength to really execute on the defensive end.

ANGEL REESE: Kateri knows Michigan. But you also can’t think — Jas comes off the bench and she doesn’t get down. Sometimes when players come out and don’t start you don’t know what you can get from them. For her to come out and shoot the way she shot tonight. We can’t win without her either, so Kateri and Jas tonight were really important for us tonight.

Q. This is for Angel and LaDazhia. You guys dominated the glass, beat them by 20. On the glass. Was that just something you felt you had a great matchup against their bigs, or was it just you, kind of, ratcheted up the aggressiveness?

LADAZHIA WILLIAMS: We knew one of the keys to winning the game was rebounding. We really emphasized that in practice and really tried to stay and maintain great positioning on the boards to get the boards and then do what we do with our length.

ANGEL REESE: We knew they had more size than us.I mean that’s kind of why we started with Kateri tonight. Being able to have everybody guard and rebound at all five positions was really important tonight.

Q. This is for the players. At the end of the first half, Michigan only had 15 points. I think it was their lowest point total all season. What did you do defensively to limit them so much in the first half?

LADAZHIA WILLIAMS: Really team U basketball. Being a help off the drive. Knowing who the shooters are. Just really executing our scout and what we have been preparing for all week.

ANGEL REESE: Yeah, I think this is one of our best defensive games in a long time. Especially on our home court. I think we had a lot of energy, so shout out to the fans, the students came back out and everybody else tonight. They said it was only 10,000 people. But it felt like way more. It was fun.

Q. You have been talking about size for the past two days going up against Michigan. What does it do for the group having shown that you guys can have success against a bigger group now moving into the rest of the tournament?

ANGEL REESE: I think we have seen it early on playing against South Carolina. They had a lot of size. I think we’re kind of used to it. Just being able to be in practice and paying close attention to our scouting reports. Coach Bob does a great job making sure that we know our scouting report. Right now it’s just about executing and paying attention to every detail.

Q. Angel, we’ve talked a lot about your maturity this year. But right out of the gate it was tested getting popped in the mouth. Just responding and kind of playing through it. Now that it’s over, how proud are you of that and how conscious of it during the game were you to remember to stay in the game?

ANGEL REESE: Probably freshman year I probably would have cried, maybe, sat down for a little while. I knew Coach if I was to act like I was hurt or something, she was going to get on me. I knew my team needed me. I don’t ever want to disappoint my team. So I did whatever it takes, a bloody lip and bloody mouth, I’ll figure it out later tonight. I just don’t want to let my team down.

Q. Just talked to Poole in the locker room and asked her about the chemistry between you two. It really showed tonight and it was like next level.

ANGEL REESE: That’s my girl. I love KP. We go way back. I see a lot of things in KP that she might not see in herself. I push her harder than anybody else in practice. When she found out she was starting, I was like, this is your time. You have to show and come out here with a lot of energy and do what you do. Play KP. KP’s from New York. She ain’t scared of nobody. KP not scared of nobody. I’m from Baltimore. KP, New York and Baltimore, they go head to head. I love KP. And she’s a key to our team.

Q. Angel, at one point in the game in the fourth quarter you had more rebounds alone than all of Michigan. I was talking to Alexis in the locker room and she’s like, I’m not surprised. What did it take to be that dominant on the glass tonight for you personally?

ANGEL REESE: I was not very efficient at all tonight. A lot of those rebounds came from a lot of my misses. And then, I thank my teammates for missing a lot of shots — missing some shots so I could get the rebound. Just paying close attention to where the ball is. I have a really good eye for the ball. Rebounding is key. That’s what’s written on our board. We have to rebound and defend to win. As far as we go, we have to rebound and defend.

Q. Just you, kind of mentioned it going four in your locker. Going back to Greenville now. Not necessarily about the Tennessee game, but just the idea of going back to a place that you are familiar with, have some experience with, how excited are you to be moving on to not only the Sweet Sixteen but there?

LADAZHIA WILLIAMS: We’re just taking it one day at a time, but we’re very excited. We’re ready to start preparing for the next game. And we’re just ready for whatever is ahead of us.

ANGEL REESE: I mean, we had a bad taste in our mouth from going to Greenville the first time. Going back is just playing together, going together and getting a lot of rest and recovery to focus on Utah now. We have all the tools. So making sure that we’re paying attention to detail now. I know all our fans are going to travel with us. And I just want to thank them for an amazing year. 17-0 at home. It’s surreal in the Pmac. And I mean, I’m lost for words.

THE MODERATOR: Per Her Hoop stats, Angel Reese is the first player in NCAA Tournament history to score 25 points and grabbed 24 rebounds. Angel, congratulations on that. And Angel and LaDazhia thank you very much for your time. Congratulations and best of luck in the next round.