LSU’s Kim Mulkey Confirms Angel Reese’s Status for Showdown Against Virginia Tech

BATON ROUGE, La. (KPEL News) - After spending the first part of the season mysteriously absent from the court, it looks like LSU women's basketball star Angel Reese will take to the court.

The Advocate reported on Wednesday that head coach Kim Mulkey has confirmed Reese's status for the Thursday night game against Virginia Tech.

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All-American forward Angel Reese will play in the LSU women's basketball team's Thursday night game against Virginia Tech after missing the last four games, coach Kim Mulkey said Wednesday.

She last played on Nov. 14, when LSU hosted Kent State. Reese started that game but sat the entire second half. Then, the Tigers played their road contest against Southeastern Louisiana, their home game against Texas Southern and their two matchups in the Cayman Islands Classic without her.

Originally, it was suspected that Reese was missing games due to a low GPA. Mulkey never confirmed or denied those rumors. Reese herself posted a somewhat cryptic tweet on the matter.

After a recent game, Mulkey did make some comments alluding to "locker room issues."

"You always have to deal with locker room issues," she said after the team's win against Texas Southern. "That's just part of coaching. In 40 years, I can never think of a time where I didn't have to deal with issues. That's what coaches do."

"Sometimes y'all know about them, and sometimes you don't," she added. "Sometimes you want to know more than you're entitled to know. I'm going to protect my players, always. It's like a family."

Fans suspected Reese might be returning to the court after another cryptic social media post went live on her Instagram story on Tuesday, spurring a lot of commentary online.

Last season, Reese was averaging 23.4 points per game. She was also responsible for 15.4 rebounds per night and shot 52.5 percent from the field. After the team won a national championship, she was named the Final Four's most outstanding player.

Reese has been a dominant player for the team, and while they have put up solid performances without her for most of the season, she is expected to contribute more to the team's already strong efforts.

The LSU Tigers will take on Virginia Tech Thursday night. Tip-off is at 8 p.m.