Few stars in all of college basketball have shined as brightly as Angel Reese in recent years. While the standout post player moved onto the WNBA and continued to excel in the pros, the LSU Tigers have plenty of star power ready to emerge in her absence during the 2024-25 season. 

• Subscribe To FloHoops To Watch The 2024 Baha Mar Women's Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship
• UConn Women's Basketball: What To Know About Paige Bueckers & The Huskies

LSU reached the mountaintop in 2023 as national champions, going on a dominant March Madness run. The Tigers claimed their first national championship in program history with double-digit-point wins in 5-of-6 NCAA Tournament contests, culminating in a rout of Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes in the title game. 

Iowa scored a measure of revenge last season, beating LSU in a high-profile Elite Eight match to move onto the 2024 Final Four. 

"You're one game away from going back to the Final Four. I'm going to eventually think of how we get here. How did we get here? What did we do as a team and as a staff to get to this moment?" LSU coach Kim Mulkey said following the loss when asked to reflect on falling short of a repeat title. "You learn. I learn every day as a coach." 

Mulkey's 2023 title was her fourth, having guided Baylor to three in 2005, 2012 and 2019. She pursues her fifth with a team capable of delivering at the 2025 Final Four in Tampa. The Tigers' road to South Florida isn't without hurdles, however, including a Thanksgiving Weekend visit to the 2024 Baha Mar Women's Hoops Pink Flamingo tournament. 

LSU opens play in paradise on Nov. 25 against Washington. Get to know more about the 2024-25 Tigers ahead of the season and their visit to the Baha Mar championship. 

Aneesah Morrow Ready For Her Close-Up 

With Reese's exit from the WNBA and playmaker Hailey Van Lith transferring to TCU, wing Aneesah Morrow steps up as the clear face of the 2024-25 Tigers. In a lot of ways, it's a role she already fulfilled. 

Morrow averaged a double-double of 16.4 points and 10 rebounds per game a season ago, playing in all 37 contests. She was the lone Tiger starter to appear in every game. Morrow also led the team in minutes played at 32.7 per game and was tops in steals with 2.5 per. 

Morrow's consistency provided a foundation for LSU in 2023-24. She scored in double-figures in 23 consecutive games, overlapping with a run of nine straight double-doubles. This included her 37-point, 16-rebound performance against Virginia in the Cayman Islands Classic. 

A 2022-23 All-American at DePaul, Morrow fit seamlessly into LSU's framework her first year upon joining the Tigers. She's now arguably the most important piece of their pursuit of another championship, though she has outstanding running mates with fellow perimeter players Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams.  

Emphasis on the Backcourt 

LSU's third- and fourth-leading scorers in 2023-24 were guards Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams, who averaged 14.9 and 14.5 points per game. The two were LSU's most prolific 3-point shooters, as well, each averaging 38 percent on 2.6 and 4.4 attempts per game. 

How much more perimeter-oriented the Tiger's offense might look with Reese gone is an interesting subplot, particularly in the early going of the schedule. With so much of the established firepower at guard, LSU has no shortage of options to attack opponents from the outside in. 

That means potentially seeing both Johnson and Williams getting more opportunities to shoot from long range. 

With Hailey Van Lith gone, the established veterans of the LSU backcourt will have a new No. 1 point guard joining them. It won't be a new face directing traffic, however, as Last-Tear Poa averaged 20.1 minutes primarily coming off the bench in 36 appearances a season ago. 

Poa, in her third season at LSU, averaged three assists last year as one of the leading reserves. 

Sa'Myah Smith's Return, Addition of Jersey Wolfenbarger Shape Frontcourt 

With Reese's double-double numbers gone, LSU will need interior presences to emerge in her stead. Reinforcements arrive both internally, with Sa'Myah Smith officially cleared to return from the season-ending injury she sustained last November, and via the transfer portal. 

Jersey Wolfenbarger is a familiar face, having previously played at LSU's SEC rival Arkansas. The 6-foot-5 Wolfenbarger was a 5-star recruit out of high school and delivered with an All-SEC freshman season at Arkansas, averaging 7.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and nearly a blocked shot per game in 2021-22. Her role dipped as a sophomore, so coming to LSU this year offers Wolfenbarger a much-needed fresh start. 

Smith gets her own new start in 2024-25, having had a promising introduction to 2023-24 cut short when she tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus. The road back to recovery was slow, but Smith should be ready to roll come the start of the campaign. 

LSU Basketball Matchups To Watch In 2024-25

 The SEC boasts four of the last seven NCAA Tournament champions and has sent three different programs to the title game between LSU, 2024/2022/2017 champion South Carolina and Mississippi State. 

With the addition of Texas and Oklahoma, the conference gets even deeper, making for an even more challenging and intriguing schedule than usual. 

• Nov. 25 vs. Washington (Baha Mar Women's Championship) 
• Nov. 27 Baha Mar Women's Championship Final 
• Dec. 5 vs. Stanford 
• Dec. 17 vs. Seton (in Uncasville, Connecticut) 
• Jan. 2 at Arkansas 
• Jan. 9 at Tennessee 
• Jan. 23 at South Carolina
• Jan. 26 vs. Texas A&M 
• Jan. 30 vs. Oklahoma  
• Feb. 2 vs. Mississippi State
• Feb. 9 vs. Tennessee 
• Feb. 16 at Texas 
• Feb. 20 vs. Georgia 
• March 5-9, SEC Tournament (in Greenville, South Carolina)

Watch NCAA Women's Basketball On FloHoops

The NCAA Women's Basketball is streaming live on FloHoops and the FloSports app. The BIG EAST Digital Network is also on FloHoops and the FloSports app.

FloHoops Archived Footage

Video footage from all events will be archived and stored in a video library for FloHoops subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

Join the College Basketball Conversation on FloHoops Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloHoops.
• Follow us on Instagram @flohoops.
• Follow us on TikTok @Flohoopstv.
• Watch us on YouTube. 
• Like us on Facebook.