LSU Women’s basketball star Angel Reese has not had an ideal start to the 2023-24 season. 

USA Today reports that after only four games into the season, Reese was noticeably absent in LSU’s 73-50 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Friday (Nov. 17). 

"It's very obvious Angel was not in uniform,” said coach Kim Mulkey during her postgame press conference. “Angel is a part of this basketball team and we hope to see her sooner rather than later … I’m not going to answer anymore. That’s it. That’s all y’all need to know, OK?”

On X formerly Twitter, Resse gave her only response after being benched.

“Please don’t believe everything you read,” her post read.

As questions about Reese being MIA continued to be raised, she missed her second consecutive game on Monday (Nov. 20) night where the Tigers' defeated Texas Southern 106-47.

Again, Mulkey did not reveal many details in her explanation of Resse’s absence.

“Sometimes you want to know more than you're entitled to know. I'm going to protect my players," Mulkey said.

However the coach did not share when Reese would return to the team.

After the Tigers' were stunned by Colorado in a 92-78 loss in the season opener, Mulkey expressed her frustration with the team's performance without singling out any player.

"I'm disappointed in some individual players who I thought would be tougher, have a little fight and leadership about them," she said.

Last Tuesday (Nov. 14) Reese was benched in during  halftime of the Tigers'  109-79 win over Kent State in what Mulkey called a "coach's decision." 

2023 was a banner year for the "Bayou Barbie,” after leading LSU to the NCAA 2023 National Championship. 

As one of the most popular and profitable players in collegiate sports,  Reese has landed NIL deals with Reebok, Tampax, PlayStation, Raising Canes, McDonald's, Coach, Wingstop, Outback Steakhouse, and Amazon.