What happened to Angel Reese? Exploring the drama surrounding LSU’s star player

There was a lot of drama surrounding Angel Reese during the LSU Tigers' Friday night matchup against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. Reese was the NCAA women's basketball most outstanding player of the season last term. However, she was absent from the game with an empty seat representing her space on the LSU bench.

The Tigers played their sixth game of the season and overcame the Lions 73-50 to reach a 5-1 record. But questions about Reese not playing in the contest were difficult to ignore for the fans.

Here is all we know about the drama surrounding Angel Reese and her absence from the Tigers' sixth game of the season:

Angel Reese was benched in the second half of the Tigers' game against Kent State. Head coach Kim Mulkey said in the post-game interview that it was a "coach's decision"

"I could, but I won't," Mulkey said when asked about the reason for the benching. "It was just a coach's decision."

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What happened to Angel Reese?

Angel Reese did not participate in the following game against Southeastern Louisiana, with Mulkey saying Reese did not dress up for the game.

"Angel was not in uniform," Mulkey said. "Angel is a part of this basketball team, and we hope she's back with the team soon. I'm not gonna answer any more than that."

LSU forward Angel Reese (10). (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Reese's absence yesterday comes just days after Mulkey decided to bench her for the second half of the LSU Tigers' 109-79 win against Kent State. The move tipped off a public feud between Reese's mother, Angel Webb Reese, and the mom of another Tigers player, Flau’jae Johnson, Kia Brooks.

Angel Webb Reese shared an Instagram story after her daughter's benching with a cryptic message about grammatical errors in a long message she received.

"Folks pls do not send me long text msgs with a bunch of grammatical errors it gives me a headache," Webb wrote. "How do I know you said what you said if I can’t understand what you’re saying?"

Brooks responded with a story on her Instagram account, urging Webb to take responsibility for her daughter's actions.

"You definitely know about grammar errors when your daughter got a 2.0 or less GPA," Brooks wrote. "And in fact when writing your smart message you didn't capitalize nor did you use any periods.

“Stop being petty, fake and hateful, and take responsibility for you and your daughters actions. Your just as responsible you raised her that way. Nobody give a d*mn who you think you are since you came up off another’s brand.

"Just like God gave it to you he will take it right away. Always stay humble and never forget who made you and where you came from."

While the real reason behind the feud is unknown, something seems to be amiss in the camp of the defending national champions.

Sophomore Flau’jae Johnson led the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds on Friday against the Lions in LSU's first game of the 2023-24 season without Angel Reese.

As the drama unfolds, the Tigers have made a solid start to their title defense with five wins in six. They next play Texas Southern on Monday.