'I need you': Inside Kim Mulkey's message to Angel Reese in LSU's win vs MTSU

BATON ROUGE — The Pete Maravich Assembly Center reverberated with cheers as the crowd's buzz hovered over the court like a dense fog.

LSU women's basketball sophomore sensation Flau'jae Johnson was stepping to the free-throw line for a chance to potentially take the lead with two free throws in the third quarter against Middle Tennessee in the 2024 NCAA Tournament second round contest Sunday afternoon.

It took Kim Mulkey two tries to get the attention of star forward Angel Reese, who was situated on the block, getting ready to snatch another one of her rebounds if Johnson just so happened to miss.

When Reese finally heard Mulkey's voice, she glanced over.

"I need you," Mulkey mouthed to her coupled with a encouraging expression.

To that point, Reese had eight points and was "not having a good scoring night." But she heeded the message.

"I didn't want to let my team down," Reese said. "I think we were down at that point, and of course, when anybody tells me that they need me, I want to be there and do whatever it takes to win."

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It was simple, Just a look and a whisper traveling through the sea of sound inside the PMAC. It was heard loud and clear.

On the next LSU offensive possession, Reese whipped a no-look wraparound pass to a cutting Aneesah Morrow, who finished the layup at the rim that put the No. 3 Tigers up 45-43. They never trailed again, outscoring MTSU 38-13 the rest of the way for the 83-56 victory.

"I had another off-night scoring, but I was just doing whatever I could to just help the team, getting steals, getting in passing lanes, and helping my point guard," Reese said.

During LSU's closing stretch, Reese scored 12 of her 20 points while securing her 14th straight double-double with 11 rebounds to help the Tigers move on to the Sweet 16 next weekend in Albany, New York.

"Angel missed some break-away layups," Mulkey said of Reese's first-half performance against the Blue Raiders. "That had nothing to do with size inside, but she kept battling. I think at (halftime) Angel didn't even have an offensive board. I thought it was very obvious that they use their fouls. They're physical. They use their fouls, and we took advantage of it."

Both Mulkey and Reese have said that they have similar personalities and they both hate losing.

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The pair have built their relationship the last two seasons, through a run at an NCAA championship a season ago and through to this year's NCAA Tournament. And that coach-player dynamic and level of trust came through for LSU against MTSU.

Mulkey wanted to tell her star player what she needed from her. And Reese felt the boost at the right time.

"I didn't want this to be my last game being here in the PMAC. So I did whatever it takes to win," Reese said. "And me and coach have that kind of relationship where she can get on me and talk to me, like, 'I need you,' and give me that encouragement that I need."

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz atbdiaz@gannett.com.