LSU power forward Angel Reese was named BET’s Sportswoman of the Year on Sunday night before the network’s annual awards show — but she couldn’t be in Los Angeles to pick up the award in person.
Reese is part of a 12-member U.S. women’s team preparing for the AmeriCup tournament July 1-9 in Leon, Mexico. The tournament, held every other year, includes 10 teams from North America, South America and the Carribean.
The Americans’ first game is July 1 against Venezuela.
Angel is really a legend…somebody please let me know if any of this has been done before, because this all seems new & legendary to me
…and basketball is currently interfering with her fame, so there goes that narrative 😂
Find & reserve investment properties in
Turkey or Dubai from the comfort of
your home.— Gary Redus (@iGREDUS) June 26, 2023
As for the BET Sportswoman of the Year award, Reese beat out a field of six other nominees — including two other ex-LSU athletes, former point guard Alexis Morris and former sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson.
Thank you BET! So sad I couldn’t be there but I really appreciate this! This means a lot!🥺🖤 pic.twitter.com/hiyAQBwx70
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) June 26, 2023
Reese and Morris led the Tigers to the national championship in April, capping Kim Mulkey’s second season at LSU.
Reese averaged 23.0 points and 15.4 rebounds and led the nation with 34 double-doubles en route to becoming a first-team All-American.
She’s had quite a summer already.
Congratulations @Reese10Angel! Keep raising the bar! https://t.co/ey2i18j007
— Kim Mulkey (@KimMulkey) June 26, 2023
Morris dominated the fourth quarter of LSU’s 102-85 win over Iowa in the national championship game, finishing with 21 points and nine assists.
Morris was the Tigers’ second-leading scorer with 15.4 points and 4.1 assists this season.
Richardson, a 23-year-old Dallas native, won the 2019 NCAA championship with LSU and became an international superstar during the 2021 U.S. Olympic trials. She accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for cannabis, missing the Olympics.
But Richardson has been on a tear this spring. The No. 1-ranked 100-meter sprinter in the world, she scratched at the L.A. Grand Prix earlier this month but had broken a meet record in Doha, Qatar, in May with a time of 10.76 seconds.
The other nominees for BET Sportswoman of the Year were longtime U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix, basketball legend Candace Parker and tennis superstars Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams.
