LSU women's basketball takes down Texas Southern as Angel Reese remains away from team

BATON ROUGE — Still without star forward Angel Reese, No. 7 LSU women's basketball had no trouble with Texas Southern on Monday night.

The Tigers turned disrupting defense into transition offense as they raced past the visiting Tigers, 106-47, inside Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU (5-1) had 48 points off a whopping 35 Texas Southern turnovers, a season-high for Kim Mulkey's defense.

Senior guard Hailey Van Lith dropped a season-high 16 points, while sophomore Flau'jae Johnson and junior Aneesah Morrow tied season-highs with 17 points as the Tigers moved the ball around well and every player that touched the floor scored.

LSU women's basketball star Angel Reese still absent from team; Kateri Poole doesn't play for second time in three games

For the second straight game, LSU junior forward Angel Reese was not with her teammates, this time for a home game.

Reese was not in attendance at Southeastern Louisiana Friday night and Kim Mulkey didn't give a reason as to why.

"Angel was not in uniform. She is a part of this basketball team," she said. "We hope she's back with the team soon. I'm not going to answer any more than that."

Without clarity, it was unclear if Reese would return to the team for the Texas Southern game. But she was never seen near the bench area. It remains uncertain when Reese will be back.

Guard Kateri Poole went through warmups with the team before the game Monday, but did not receive any playing time for the second time in the last three games.

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ANGEL REESEKim Mulkey addresses Angel Reese's absence from LSU women's basketball

Hailey Van Lith thriving in the off-ball guard position

Van Lith transferred to LSU to learn and play the point guard position, but it's looking like that may not quite come to fruition.

The senior guard is thriving on the wing and sharing offensive operating duties with Last-Tear Poa and MiKaylah Williams. Being off the ball has allowed Mulkey to utilize Van Lith and her skill set in screens, movement and ability to create herself some space.

Van Lith scored 10 points by early in the second period and finished with her best stat line at LSU so far, 16 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals.

LSU transition and 3-point defense much better against Texas Southern

Transition defense and defense of the 3-point line have major areas of concern for the Tigers through the first couple of the season.

Players from Colorado, Kent State and Mississippi Valley State have lit LSU up from behind the arc and, at times, teams have gotten easy looks at the rim pushing the ball up the floor.

LSU was much improved in both areas against Texas Southern. TSU shot just 3-for-10 from 3-point land and mustered two fastbreak points.

Tigers share basketball, create wide open shots

In the third quarter, Johnson hesitated in the corner then drove baseline, finding Williams on the other corner. The defender crashed, Williams whipped the ball over to Van Lith for a wide open 3-point shot.

LSU had numerous sequences where players made the extra pass, leading to 19 team assists, a stat Mulkey cares plenty about. Van Lith led the way with five assists.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.