Angel Reese calls LSU women's basketball's shot at ESPYs: 'Another natty is coming'
The spotlight has been fixed on LSU women's basketball since it won its first national championship back in April.
Led by star Angel Reese, coach Kim Mulkey and her squad knocked off women's basketball biggest star in Iowa's Caitlin Clark in a matchup that attracted the biggest audience for a women's game at 9.9 million.
At ESPN's annual award show the ESPYs Wednesday night in Los Angeles, both Reese and the whole team, which was nominated for Team of the Year but lost out to the NFL Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, were prominently featured throughout the broadcast in segments and crowd shots.
Reese, affectionately known as the 'Bayou Barbie," brought home the Best Breakthrough Athlete award, once again edging out Clark as well as the Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodriguez and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
And while accepting her honor, she called LSU's shot for this upcoming season.
"I can't stop thanking God every day for this amazing blessing," Reese said. "I want to thank my family, my mom. My mom put me and my brother (Maryland men's basketball standout Julian Reese) through college and I'm going to graduate this year. And I want to thank LSU. LSU, my family, my teammates, my coaches, Kim Mulkey, everybody that helped me. Last year, I transferred from the University of Maryland, came to LSU and I just joined a family.
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"So, I just want to say 'thank you,' and another natty is coming, period."
In her first season in Baton Rouge, Reese took the women's basketball world by storm, setting the NCAA single-season double-double record with 34. The 6-4 forward posted 23 points and 15 rebounds a game and was a finalist for several postseason awards.
The Tigers will be the favorites to repeat and win the 2024 national championship. They return Reese as well as other star Flau'jae Johnson. But plenty of the hype also centers around two transfers Mulkey and her staff landed in Louisville star point guard Hailey Van Lith and DePaul forward Aneesah Morrow, who has recorded 53 career double-doubles in 66 games through her first two seasons.
LSU tips off the 2023-24 season at the Hall of Fame Classic in Las Vegas where it'll take on Colorado on Nov. 6.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Angel Reese: 'Another natty is coming' to LSU women's basketball
