LSU's Angel Reese Named SEC Player of the Year

Mikaylah Williams takes home Freshman of the Year, Tigers well-represented once again.

Angel Reese was named the SEC Player of the Year and Mikaylah Williams was named the SEC Freshman of the Year on Tuesday as a total of five Tigers earned recognition in this year’s SEC postseason award class selected by the league’s coaches.

Reese also earned a spot on the All-SEC First Team and the SEC All-Defensive Team while Williams was featured on the All-Freshman Team. Aneesah Morrow joined Reese on the All-SEC First Team while Flau’Jae Johnson, last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year, was named on the All-SEC Second Team. Williams was also featured on the SEC All-Freshmen team along with Aalyah Del Rosario.

With Reese garnering player of the year honors and Williams earning freshman of the year recognition, LSU is the first team from South Carolina in 2015 to have players win both awards. With Williams and Johnson going back-to-back to win freshman of the year, this marks the first time that players from the same team have earned that in consecutive seasons since Missouri in 2016 and 2017. It is just the fourth time the SEC Freshman of the Year has come from the same school in back-to-back seasons. Reese becomes the third LSU Tiger to be named the SEC Player of the Year (Seimone Augustus, 2005 and 2006; Sylvia Fowles, 2008). Williams is the fifth LSU Tiger to be named SEC Freshman of the Year (DeTrina White, 1999; Seimone Augustus, 2003; LaSondra Barrett, 2009; Flau’Jae Johnson, 2023).

Reese is on the All-SEC First Team for the second year in a row. She led the SEC in scoring (19.1 ppg) and rebounding (13.0 rpg) to become the first player since Wendy Scholtens from Vanderbilt in 1989 and 1990 as the only players to lead the league in both stats multiple seasons. Reese has recorded 20 double-doubles this year, including nine in a row, to give her a total of 54 at LSU after setting the NCAA record with 34 last year. Reese has one game with 25 points and 20 rebounds against Auburn, her seventh 20/20 game and sixth 25/20 game. Reese leads the nation in offensive rebounding, hauling in 5.6 offensive boards each game. She also ranks No. 2 in the country with 214 free throw attempts and No. 6 with 156 free throws made. On the defensive end, Reese has been an impact player too, ranking No. 14 in the SEC with 1.8 steals per game and No. 13 with 0.9 blocks per game.

Morrow, in her first year at LSU, has been a big time play maker for the Tigers on both end of the floor. Like Reese, Morrow is a double-double machine with 18 this season (No. 7 in NCAA). Morrow and Reese have recorded double-doubles in the same game 10 times. The Chicago native Morrow is averaging 16.7 points (No. 6 in the SEC) and 10.0 rebounds per game (No. 5 in the SEC). Her most exceptional performance came this year at the Cayman Island Classic where she led a shorthanded LSU squad to victory over Virginia with 37 points and 16 rebounds. Morrow has shined defensively, leading the team with 81 steals (2.7 spg, No. 4 in the SEC). She has nine games this season with 4+ steals and has one game with nine steals. Over LSU’s past two games, Morrow has also excelled as a passer with nine assists at Georgia and against Kentucky.

Johnson has stepped up her game this year as a sophomore after being last year’s SEC Freshman of the Year. Her all-around game has been elite this season, scoring, rebounding and guarding the opposing teams’ top perimeter players. She is scoring 14.5 points with 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. Johnson recorded one double-double this season with 17 points and 11 rebounds at Southeastern. She has four games with 20+ points.

Williams came in as the top recruit out of high school and quickly showed her capabilities as a scorer with 42 points in her fourth game against Kent State, the most by a LSU freshman in the NCAA era. She is averaging 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. As a playmaker, Williams can create her shot at all three levels and has great court vision too, averaging 1.7 assists per game. Williams scored 20+ in seven games this season and has one double-double.

Del Rosario has continually improved her level of play throughout her first season of college basketball. Her role increased following the knee injury to Sa’Myah Smith and has played crucial minutes as the Tigers’ first post option off the bench. She is averaging 5.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, playing 11.7 minutes per game She has scored in double figures in four games and has one double-double with career-highs 27 points and 10 rebounds against McNeese. She also has four games with 3+ blocks.

First Team All-SEC

Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alabama

Honesty Scott-Grayson, Auburn

Aneesah Morrow, LSU

Angel Reese, LSU

Marquesha Davis, Ole Miss

Madison Scott, Ole Miss

Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina

Rickea Jackson, Tennessee

Second-Team All-SEC

Aaliyah Nye, Alabama

Leilani Correa, Florida

Javyn Nicholson, Georgia

Flau’jae Johnson, LSU

Jessika Carter, Mississippi State

Jerkaila Jordan, Mississippi State

Raven Johnson, South Carolina

Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina

Ashlyn Watkins, South Carolina

Iyana Moore, Vanderbilt

All-Freshman Team

Essence Cody, Alabama

Taliah Scott, Arkansas

Laila Reynolds, Florida

Aalyah Del Rosario, LSU

Mikaylah Williams, LSU

Grace Slaughter, Missouri

MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina

Khamil Pierre, Vanderbilt

All-Defensive Team

Angel Reese, LSU

Madison Scott, Ole Miss

Mama Dembele, Missouri

Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina

Jordyn Cambridge, Vanderbilt

Coach of the Year – Dawn Staley, South Carolina

Player of the Year – Angel Reese, LSU

Freshman of the Year – Mikaylah Williams, LSU

Defensive Player of the Year – Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina

6th Woman of the Year – Leilani Correa, Florida

Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Mama Dembele, Missouri