Angel Reese: 'We're not scared of South Carolina, we'll see them again'

Angel Reese doesn’t believe Sunday will be the last time LSU will face South Carolina this season. The Tigers fell 79-72 in the SEC Tournament Championship to the Gamecocks as emotions flared in the final minutes between the two rivals.

The loss marked the 16th straight for LSU against South Carolina, which also defeated the Tigers 76-70 in Baton Rouge earlier this year. Despite the lack of recent success against the Gamecocks, however, Reese is confident LSU will come out on top in a potential meeting in the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re not scared of South Carolina and I’m gonna repeat that,” she said. “We’re not scared of South Carolina. A lot of people are scared of them and 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.”

Reese finished with 15 points along with 13 rebounds in the loss to South Carolina on Sunday. The Tigers managed to keep the game close, coming within a point with just 4:13 remaining.

Things got a bit heated in the final two minutes of the contest as a fight broke out between LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson and Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso. After Johnson pushed South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins, Cardoso rushed in to know the Tigers guard to the ground.

Both benches cleared and multiple players including Cardoso were ejected. The Gamecocks led 73-66 at the time and managed to hold on for the victory once play resumed.

With the win, South Carolina remains undefeated on the season entering the NCAA Tournament. That was also the case in 2023, but LSU went on to claim the national title after the Gamecocks were knocked out by Iowa in the Final Four.

It’s no guarantee that these two teams will meet again come tournament time. However, based on the fight she saw in both of the previous two matchups, Reese believes LSU will be ready for anything.

“I’m just happy and I’m gonna acknowledge my teammates first because Janae (Kent) and Aalyah (Del Rosario), they came off the bench and did big things for us,” she said. “Mikaylah (Williams), she was frustrated because she had to do minimum numbers and minimum time, but she came out there and did what she did. She defended and played as hard as she could.

“Being able to be proud of this team, I’m not gonna give (South Carolina) all the credit because I know how hard we played. We played hard. We played tough. We did whatever it took to win. Sadly, we came up short. But I’m happy with where we are right now and anybody seeing us moving forward should be scared.”