LSU WBB: Angel Reese Semifinalist for Naismith Player of the Year

Reese continues racking up postseason honors, semifinalists for more prized hardware.

LSU’s Angel Reese was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Player of the Year award on Thursday, announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Reese has been dominant for the Tigers this year with 23 double-doubles this season, the third most in the nation. She currently has 12 straight double-doubles, her third time at LSU with a double-double streak of at least 10 games. Reese has scored in double figures in all 65 of her games at LSU.

Reese is the first player since Wendy Scholtens of Vanderbilt (1989 and 90) to lead the SEC in scoring and rebounding in consecutive seasons, averaging 19.0 points and 13.1 rebounds per game this season. She ranks second in the nation in rebounding and leads the country with 5.6 offensive rebounds per game. Reese has recorded at total of seven 20/20 games in two seasons at LSU, including at 25 point, 20 rebound game against Auburn this season. Six of those games have been with at least 25 points and 20 rebounds.

At the SEC Tournament, Reese was dominant despite playing on a bum right ankle. After rolling her ankle in the fourth quarter of LSU’s game against Auburn on Friday, Reese was a game time decision for Saturday’s game against Ole Miss. She ended up playing and scoring 21 points while grabbing 17 rebounds. In the SEC Tournament Championship, she had 15 points and 13 rebounds. In three games at the SEC Tournament, Reese averaged 19.7 points and 13.7 rebounds, earning a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Angel Reese After Sunday's Matchup Against South Carolina:

“It was fun. I mean, we kind of can see where our team is right now, how tough we are. We can’t put our heads down because of everything that we have been through this weekend. But again, I’m not going to make that an excuse. We’re going to go back. We’re going to rest up and have these, what, a week, week and a half to see where we’re going to be placed for the NCAA tournament. So we’re in a great place right now. We’re going to look back and see what mistakes we made, of course. But I think we’re happy at where we’re at right now.”