ALBANY, N.Y. — Flau'jae Johnson leans forward and stretches her legs as the crowd roars its approval for more Iowa free throws. She stands up with a deep breath as the reality sinks in that the LSU Tigers' hopes of a national championship repeat are over. The clock shows 14.2 seconds remaining in Monday's regional final, but LSU trails by 10 points and star forward Angel Reese is on the bench after a foul with 1:45 left.
Johnson grabs the rebound after an Iowa miss, runs down the court and hits a three-pointer to cut the deficit to seven points. But it's over. As the clock hits zero, she walks off the field, lifting the bottom of her jersey to her lips and biting it as she stands at the front of the handshake line. On their periphery, the Hawkeyes are basking in the glory of returning to the Final Four and avenging their title game loss to LSU in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Johnson, who scored a team-high 23 points, reached the goal. The guard pauses and looks into the crowd with an unreadable expression. She turns away and walks off the field and into the tunnel with the rest of her team.
LSU lost to Iowa 94-87 in the Elite Eight. Reese appeared to have sprained his ankle early in the second quarter. The Tigers shot 38.6% from the floor and just 8 of 24 from distance. The crowd in Albany was against them. And ultimately, the Tigers had no answer at all for Caitlin Clark, who had 41 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds.
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“It felt like we were losing the whole game,” said Tigers guard Hailey Van Lith. “Right from the start, we didn’t do what we had to do.”
The loss ended a season full of adversity. Make it a year. Before the Tigers even left the field after their 2023 championship win against Iowa, they were criticized for their loud celebration. On social media, Reese was called “classless” and an “idiot” for her gestures toward Clark.
Things didn't get any easier with the start of the new season. The Tigers lost their season opener. November was marked by a four-game absence for Reese and a season-ending injury to sophomore Sa'Myah Smith. Kateri Poole has left the team. This led to conference losses, including in the SEC Championship Game against South Carolina. At the same time, LSU has been portrayed as a polarizing champion on social media and sometimes in traditional media.
“So many things happened this year, so many things hit us, and we never gave up,” Reese said during Monday’s postgame press conference. “We fell short, but we have to keep our heads up.”
Angel Reese had 17 points, 20 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals before picking up her fifth foul. Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports
The path was rocky from the beginning. In the first game this season, the defending champion and preseason No. 1 seed were overwhelmed by No. 20 Colorado 92-78. LSU coach Kim Mulkey, who landed two high-profile transfers in Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow, questioned her team's leadership immediately after the loss. In the fourth game, Reese did not return to LSU after halftime. She wasn't on the team for the next game or the game after that. And when the Tigers boarded a plane on Thanksgiving bound for Grand Cayman to play in the Cayman Islands Classic, Reese wasn't there. Neither does Poole.
The attention came like a frenetic whirlwind. Where was Angel Reese? When would she play? Why didn't she go to the Cayman Islands?
“Angel is part of this basketball team,” Mulkey said after Reese missed his first game. “We hope to see them sooner rather than later.”
With few details and no answers, speculation ran rampant on social media. Grand Cayman was quieter, but the beach paradise was no escape. Smith, a starter, went to the ground awkwardly against Niagara, grabbing her right knee as she lay on the hardwood of the high school gym. Although the full extent of her injury was not revealed until later, she had suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Reese returned against Virginia Tech, LSU's first opponent after returning from Grand Cayman. Poole never came back. A reason for Poole's departure was not given by LSU or Poole, but Poole reportedly entered the transfer portal on March 13. Reese said she resigned to focus on her mental health.
An 0-5 December turned into a difficult January that included conference losses to Auburn (a surprise), South Carolina (no surprise) and Mississippi State (another surprise). LSU didn't lose in February and dominated the back half of the SEC regular season.
And then there was March.
LSU started the month with more wins and marched into the championship game determined to provide a serious challenge to undefeated South Carolina. Late in the fourth quarter, Johnson fouled South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley after Fulwiley picked Johnson's pocket. As the players left the field, Johnson bumped into Ashlyn Watkins. Then Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso charged at Johnson and pushed her to the ground. Players from both benches stormed onto the pitch, leading to mass throws and a suspension for Cardoso. South Carolina won 79-72 and captured the SEC tournament trophy.
After the game, Mulkey sparked controversy with her comments that Cardoso should have chosen someone her size. “I wish she had pushed Angel Reese,” Mulkey said. “When you’re 6-8 years old, don’t push anyone so little.”
The drama didn't let up even after the NCAA Tournament began. Speculation surfaced on social media that The Washington Post would publish an article about Mulkey. In response, Mulkey began a news conference on March 23 before LSU's second-round game against Middle Tennessee State by threatening to sue the newspaper if it published a “false story” about her.
The Post story was published Friday, and Mulkey said she had not read it or made any further comment on its content. But another newspaper – the Los Angeles Times – drew her ire after it published a column contrasting LSU and UCLA before its Sweet 16 game on Saturday. The original story described LSU as having “dirty debutants” and compared its play to UCLA in the battle between good and evil.
Van Lith called the Times article racist. “I know for a fact that people see us differently because we have a lot of black women on our team who have an attitude and like to talk nonsense, and people have a certain attitude about it,” she said. “Ultimately, I stand by them because they don’t allow this to change their nature. They stay true to themselves and I have their back.”
Flau'jae Johnson and LSU couldn't overcome a record-setting night from Caitlin Clark, who scored or assisted on 67 of Iowa's 94 points. Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Sitting at the podium At Monday's postgame press conference, Reese is flanked by Johnson to her right and Van Lith to her left. Johnson lowers his head. Van Lith looks ahead with his eyes wide open and glassy.
Reese admits she rolled her ankle in the second quarter. After the injury, she shot just 2 of 14 from the field. But she says she won't use that as an excuse. Reese declines to say whether she will go to the WNBA or use her fifth year of eligibility to play another year of college ball. Whether this is the end of Reese's college career or not, this moment marks an end.
A year full of upheaval and change is coming to an end. The end of the rollercoaster ride of the season. An end to LSU's reign.
When Johnson is asked about Reese, she sits up straight and speaks directly into the microphone. “Everyone can have their opinion about Angel Reese, but you all don’t know it,” Johnson says. “I know the real Angel Reese, and the person I see every day is a strong person, a caring, loving person. But the crown she wears is heavy.”
As she talks, Angel begins to break down.
After Johnson finishes, Van Lith leans forward and says she would also like to share something, although she isn't asked directly. “I think Angel is one of the toughest people I've ever met,” says Van Lith. “People speak hate into their lives. I've never seen people wish someone as much ill as you do, and it doesn't concern them. She comes to training every day. She lives her life every day. She lives the way she wants to live, and she won't let anyone change that.
Reese rocks back and forth, tears streaming from her eyes as Van Lith and Johnson speak so passionately about her. Johnson reaches out and wipes a tear from Reese's cheek.
Minutes later, the LSU locker room is quiet. The players sit in front of their lockers, many looking at the floor and remaining silent unless answering questions from the media in the room. Just a day before, the locker room was so full that it was difficult to move. Now only a handful of reporters move around the room while a few cameras are trained on Reese. Everyone else is focused on the Hawkeyes, the winners.
“This team gets knocked down every time and we get back up,” Van Lith said. “We stood, but at the end of the day we just didn’t play well enough. It can happen. That’s part of the sport.”
Johnson sits and looks up at those who ask her questions. She is as demonstrative as ever, at one point a smile even creeps across her lips. Her mantra is that she needs to get better. More consistent.
“I will consciously tackle this next year,” she says.
The time to talk about this year is over.
