Kim Mulkey gave Angel Reese reality check before LSU’s rough opener

LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey told her All-American forward Angel Reese to “grow up and lead” the reigning champion Lady Tigers before their season-opening upset to the Colorado Buffaloes Monday.

Before the game, Mulkey explained what she told Reese — the 2023 Final Four MVP — about navigating her leadership role on the team while juggling fame that comes with being a champion and one of the faces of the Name, Image and Likeness era.

“She just understands the spotlight is on her,” Mulkey told TNT’s Taylor Rooks pregame. “I don’t think she realized how quickly it came in how hard it came at her.

“But as I tell her, to whom much is given much as expected. You brought this, you earned this. You wanted this, now grow up and lead us and she wants to continue to get better in her game. She wants to continue to get better with her leadership.”

The Tigers’ title defense did not get off to an ideal start, getting routed 92-78 by 20th-ranked Colorado at the Hall of Fame series in Las Vegas.

Afterwards, Mulkey called out some of her players for their lack of toughness.

“I’m disappointed and surprised in some individual players that I thought would just be tougher and have a little fight and leadership about them,” she said during her postgame press conference.

“But I knew what we faced. When you have that many kids that played that many minutes together [as Colorado], we had our hands full… I thought Colorado did exactly what I thought they would do.”

Mulkey went on to explain that her team’s lack of fight isn’t something she can tolerate.

“You live with poor shooting, you live with a tough night offensively,” she said. “What I don’t live with is just guts and fight and physical play [not being there].

“I just didn’t think we had that tonight. This is not going to devastate us. Chicken Little said the sun will come out tomorrow, didn’t he?

“Those things I described are fixable,” Mulkey said. “But I don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix it.”

Mulkey did not name specific players, whom she was disappointed in.

Reese, who recorded 15 points and 12 rebounds, struggled offensively, shooting 6-of-15 from the field.

She added a single assist and had two turnovers.

Transfers Hailey Van Lith and Annesah Morrow notched 14 and six points, respectively.

Van Lith added seven assists and a single rebound.

LSU is the first defending national champion and preseason AP No. 1 team to lose its opener since the 1995-96 University of Connecticut team lost to Louisiana Tech, which Mulkey was the assistant coach for, according to the SEC Network.

Colorado trolled LSU after the game in a post on X, which read, “LS-Who?”

The Buffaloes were eliminated by the eventual national champion runner-up Iowa in the Sweet 16 in March.

LSU defeated the Hawkeyes, 102-85, to win its first-ever national championship on April 2 — when Reese recorded her 34th double-double, the most in a single season in women’s college basketball history.

Reese’s famous “you can’t see me” gesture — when she waved her hand over her face in front of Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark — became a viral meme on the road to stardom for the 21-year-old.

The Lady Tigers will receive their national championship rings and raise the national championship banner in the PMAC before their first home game against Queens (NC) on Nov. 9.