Reese named to Wooden Award All-America Team
LOS ANGELES – LSU’s Angel Reese was named to the Wooden Award All-America team announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club Tuesday evening.
LSU’s season came to an end Monday night in a 87-94 loss in the Elite Eight against Iowa in a rematch of last year’s national championship. The 2023 NCAA Championship drew a women’s basketball record 9.9 million viewers, but the record was shattered Monday night. In one of the most anticipated women’s basketball games of all-time a record 12.3-million viewers on ESPN.
“We’ve seen everything this year. We have been through so much adversity. I’m more than proud of this team,” Reese said after the loss to Iowa on Monday. “We don’t have that much depth. We have some injuries. I took some time away from the team. So many things happened this year, so many things hit us, and we never folded. Just being able to come out tonight and give our all for 40 minutes, we came up short, but we have to keep our heads high.”
Reese was dominant in the game with 17 points, 20 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. It was her 10th consecutive double-double in a NCAA Tournament game, tying the NCAA record for consecutive double-doubles in the tournament.
The Baltimore, Maryland native just finished her second season at LSU. She has the opportunity to return to LSU for one more season or put her name in the WNBA Draft, a decision she will make in the coming days.
“I’ve honestly learned that regardless [of my choice] I’m going to be able to make money staying or going,” Reese said on March 21. “Understanding that my brand has been built where I know I can take it past college. Like I have a brand outside of here where the deals are going to follow me if I leave or stay. And I’ve built that relationship with a lot of these brands. And I think that’s the difference. Like my Reebok deal, and I’m sure Hailey’s Adidas deal, that’s going to go on past college. Of course we may not have the same benefits of the same training rooms, the commercial flights and stuff like that. And I think that’s the con of everything, but you have to make a sacrifice.”
This season Reese had 27 double-doubles, averaging 18.6 points and 13.4 rebounds to earn SEC Player of the Year honors. She became the first player in the SEC since Vanderbilt’s Wendy Scholtens from Vanderbilt in 1989 and 1990 to lead the league in both scoring and rebounding over consecutive seasons. She also had 76 assists, 62 steals and 32 blocks. Reese recorded a double-double in each of LSU’s final 16 games. Reese scored 20+ points in 16 games throughout the year and grabbed 15+ rebounds in 13 games, including three games with 20 rebounds. She had one 25/20 game against Texas A&M.
In her two seasons at LSU, Reese has 61 double-doubles which is the second most in program history behind Sylvia Fowles who had 86 in her career. She has recorded seven 20/20 games over the past two seasons and led the Tigers to their first National Championship last season.
*LSU press release + quotes
