BATON ROUGE, La. — Angel Reese had 19 points and nine rebounds in her return from a four-game absence, Mikaylah Williams scored 20 points, and No. 7 LSU defeated ninth-ranked Virginia Tech 82-64 on Thursday night to give Tigers coach Kim Mulkey her 700th career victory.
Reese’s two-week absence from the team stemmed from what Mulkey described as “locker room issues.” The coach declined to go into detail, but Reese in her postgame comments referenced her mental health and not wanting to be a detriment to the team.
When the game was over, Reese and Mulkey shared a long hug.
“Proud of her,” Mulkey said. “Just proud of how she handled herself, proud she’s back to the Angel everybody knows. … There’s nothing but positive things about what happened on that floor.”
Her return came at a convenient time for LSU (8-1), which narrowly outlasted Virginia in the Cayman Islands on Saturday without both Reese and fellow power forward Sa’Myah Smith, who went out for the season with a knee injury during a victory over Niagara last Friday.
“Just coming back and doing whatever it takes to win and I did as much as I could today,” Reese said. “Seeing this team grow from when I wasn’t here really shows a lot and I’m really happy for this team, where we’re at right now.”
PHOTOS: Reese has 19 points, 9 rebounds in her return, No. 7 LSU tops No. 9 Va. Tech 82-64
Reese and forward Aneesah Morrow helped reigning national champion LSU control the paint and limit the production of Virginia Tech star center Elizabeth Kitley in a rematch of a Final Four game in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
“We’re not a polished product, but what you saw tonight on the defensive end was physical play, you saw some athleticism, you saw some tough girls,” Mulkey said. “We bowed our neck and we got after it.”
Morrow had 19 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks and three steals, and LSU outrebounded Virginia Tech 43-29. Flau’Jae Johnson scored 13 points for the Tigers, who’ve won eight straight since dropping their season opener.
Reese said she told the team, “Nobody comes in our house and takes anything from us.”
“We really worked hard and played together,” Reese said. “Obviously, we just love playing together and playing team basketball.”
Georgia Amoore scored 25 points for Virginia Tech (5-2), which trailed by double digits much of the second half. Kitley had 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
This offseason, LSU added two high-profile transfers - Morrow from DePaul and Hailey Van Lith from Louisville - along with Williams, a coveted recruit. And the rematch with the Hokies in the ACC/SEC Challenge went more decisively to the Tigers.
“It’s November. We’ll get better,” Tech coach Kenny Brooks said. “I got to figure out my team.”
Ammore said LSU picked up it’s intensity after a sluggish start, and “We didn’t adapt to that or adjust to it or even remotely fight back.”
LSU looked out of synch early and Tech took advantage, going up by as many as nine point when Matilda Ekh hit a 3 to make it 18-9.
However, Morrow’s basket late in the opening quarter began a 9-0 LSU run capped by Reese’s layup, which tied the game at 20.
The Tigers led by as many as eight in the second period. Williams made it 35-27 before Kitley’s free throws made it 35-29 at halftime.
BIG PICTURE
Virginia Tech: Shot 40.6% (26 of 64) and missed 17 of 21 3-point attempts. The Hokies also turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 12 LSU points.
LSU: Shot 50% (31 of 62). The Tigers made just 3 of 13 3s, but outscored Tech 17-8 at the foul line. LSU finished with a 32-30 edge in points in the paint, as well as advantages of 12-4 in fast-break points and 17-8 in second-chance points.
700 CLUB
Mulkey reached the 700-victory milestone in 813 games as a coach, making her the fastest to do so in men’s or women’s basketball.
“That just means I’ve been around a long time. It means I’ve coached some of the greatest,” Mulkey said.
Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma had been fastest in the women’s game, doing so in 822 games. The late Adolph Rupp holds the distinction in the men’s game, reaching 700 wins in 836 games with Kentucky.
When the game ended, LSU played a tribute to Mulkey on the video board in which many of her former players offered congratulations.
“It was touching,” Mulkey said. “Some of those people on that screen I haven’t seen since I coached them.”
UP NEXT
Virginia Tech: Hosts Long Island on Wednesday.
LSU: Hosts Louisiana-Lafayette on Dec. 10.
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