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Angel Reese explains avoidance of scuffle between LSU, South Carolina in SEC Championship

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater•03/10/24•

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LSU F Angel Reese
Ken Ruinard | staff | USA TODAY NETWORK

Several players found themselves in the middle of or involved in the incident that ended the SEC Championship between South Carolina and LSU on Sunday. However, one that wasn’t was one Angel Reese, who was at the end of the bench amidst the scuffle.

Reese took to Twitter to explain why she wasn’t part of the matter with her teammates later that night. For one, she said that the spotlight on her requires her to be careful about what she gets mixed into. For two, she was dealing with an injury when she was headed to the bench amidst the incident. With that said, that doesn’t mean that she’s any less supportive of her teammates in moments like those.

“As a person at my STATUS, sometimes you have to walk away from certain situations,” wrote Reese. “Mind you the play before that I had rolled my ankle AGAIN and was already walking to the bench.”

“I ALWAYS ride for mine,” Reese continued. “I’m super proud of this team & super excited for March.”

Once the benches began to clear during the incident, you can see Reese turn the other direction toward the end of the bench. While that was the way to go in order to not further escalate the matter herself, some may have taken it as a lack of loyalty or team obligation considering everyone else took off toward the commotion.

Still, as Reese points out, adding herself to what took place wouldn’t have been a positive for her own image. The fact that she needed to check on her own injury only further highlighted why she needed to stay away from what went down.

Reese reacts to conference title loss, scuffle with South Carolina

All eyes were on LSU and South Carolina on Sunday as two of the nation’s top ranked teams squared off in Greenville for the SEC Women’s Tournament’s final. The title game wound up having no shortage of action in between and after the whistle.

Sunday’s matchup featured two ties and three lead changes as South Carolina took home their eighth SEC Championship since 2015 with a 79-72 victory over the Tigers. However, the win was overshadowed by a scuffle that broke out in the fourth quarter that resulted in six ejections between both teams.

Angel Reese was one of the players who was not ejected and closed out the game for the Tigers. Immediately after the game, she decided to send a message via Twitter that can be seen below.

The messaging and intent behind Reese’s tweet may seem a little unclear. She made her feelings regarding the Gamecocks very plain, though, in her comments following the game.

“We’re not scared of South Carolina and I’m gonna repeat that,” Reese said. “We’re not scared of South Carolina. A lot of people are scared of them. We came in and battled and battled and battled until the end. Of course we came up short, but we’ll see them again or whoever will see them again.”