- Angel Reese led LSU past the Michigan Wolverines with 25 points and 24 rebounds on Sunday.
- The Tigers superstar became the first player in NCAA tournament to achieve such a feat, per Her Hoop Stats.
No one was stopping Angel Reese on Sunday.
The LSU superstar erupted for 25 points, 24 rebounds, and six blocks to lead the Tigers past the Michigan Wolverines and into the Sweet 16 of this year's NCAA tournament.
With her explosive effort at LSU's own Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Reese became the first player in March Madness history to rack up 25 points and 24 rebounds. She also recorded the first 25-point, 20-rebound, and 5-block stat line in an NCAA tournament game in at least 13 years, per Her Hoop Stats.
"For me, I was hungry," Reese said of her performance. "I didn't want to let my seniors go out on a loss. I mean, this means more than me — it's bigger than me. They had their last game in the PMAC [Pete Maravich Assembly Center] of their careers, so just being able to go out there and play as hard as I could and just being out there to leave it all on the floor for them was just the most important thing to me tonight."
Reese's masterclass wasn't just impressive for women's college basketball. It wasn't just great for college basketball. It was remarkable for basketball, period. In fact, only two players have matched Reese's 25-point, 24-rebound effort in the NBA this season.
Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac poured in 31 points and 29 rebounds against the Indiana Pacers on November 27. And reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic scored 40 points and pulled down 27 boards in an astounding triple-double performance on December 18.
But neither of those two players matched Reese in blocks. Zubac had three in that November game, while Jokic didn't record any. In fact, not a single NBA player has recorded 20+ points, 20+ rebounds, and six or more blocks this season.
Reese is in a class of her own, but she wasn't exactly impressed with herself following the historic performance.
"I was not very efficient at all tonight, so a lot of those rebounds came from a lot of my misses," Reese said in the post-game press conference. "And then I thank my teammates for missing some shots so I could get the rebound."
But the Maryland transfer's head coach, Hall of Famer Kim Mulkey, was incredibly complimentary of her star. And the three-time national champion didn't stop at discussing Reese's results on the day — she went so far as praising her "impact on our program."
"Every sport has one particular player or two, depending on the sport, that everybody knows about. And I think Angel, she has lived up to her hype on this floor," Mulkey said. "She still hasn't won a championship. She craves that. She wants that. But she has helped us jump start and wake up this program and wake up this community, and bring young kids to ball games and older people who are just like, 'Thank you, Coach. We've just been kind of fading away, wanting something exciting to happen.'
"And she's done that," she added.
Now, Reese, Mulkey, and the Tigers will head to Greenville, South Carolina, to face the No. 2 Utah Utes in the Sweet 16. With a win on Friday, LSU would advance to its first Elite Eight in 15 years.