Angel Reese came back to LSU on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, and the Tigers celebrated by beating Texas Southern 131-22 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge. The 109 point margin broke the previous record of 108, held by Kim Mulkey’s own 2016 Baylor team in a 140-32 win over Winthrop. No Division I women’s team had ever won by more.
Reese, the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, was honored at halftime with flowers, a “Bayou Barbie” sash and a golden crown. She watched the record unfold from inside the building. The last time LSU played Texas Southern, she was nowhere near the floor, and that detail is where this story gets interesting.
How did LSU beat Texas Southern by 109 points?
The game broke open in the second quarter. LSU outscored Texas Southern 40-0 in the period, forcing nine turnovers and holding the visitors without a field goal on 13 attempts, while Jada Williams poured in 16 of her 18 points. LSU led 65-13 at halftime.
Texas Southern shot 13% and turned the ball over 38 times, and LSU won the points off turnovers battle 55-0. Anna Minaeva, a 17 year old freshman from Russia, scored a game high 21 points in her college debut. Mikaylah Williams added 20. LSU also set a program record with 53 field goals.
Angel Reese returns to LSU 🐯👑
The Bayou Barbie is back 🔥 https://t.co/uKI5eCmHEr
— espnW (@espnW) November 6, 2026
Why did Angel Reese come back to Baton Rouge?
Timing mattered. Angel Reese’s season had ended days earlier when the Atlanta Dream fell 68-63 to the Golden State Valkyries in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 31, the first Game 7 in league history. Mulkey said a title celebration was the only thing that might have changed Reese’s plans.
Angel Reese also came to support her brother, Julian Reese, who signed with the New Orleans Pelicans in September, and to catch LSU football host Alabama on Saturday.
Her third pro season gave her plenty to celebrate anyway. Reese set single season records with 32 double doubles and 521 rebounds, becoming the first player to grab 500 boards in a season. LSU players warmed up in her Defensive Player of the Year shirts, and an announced crowd of 9,591 gave her a standing ovation. Reese told reporters that Baton Rouge still feels like home and credited Mulkey’s grueling practices for making the WNBA feel easier. Mulkey said her current players now see they can become the next Angel.
What happened the last time LSU played Texas Southern?
Here is the twist. Before Thursday, the teams last met on Nov. 20, 2023, when LSU won 106-47. Reese missed that game. She had been held out of the lineup days earlier, and Mulkey offered no explanation at the time. The national champion was suddenly a question mark.
She came back weeks later, and her return ran straight through Black college culture. In December 2023, Reese scored a game high 26 points at Coppin State in her hometown of Baltimore, and the HBCU sold out its arena for the first time in school history.
Three years later, she returned to Baton Rouge as royalty, and another HBCU stood across from LSU. Jayla Cornelius led the Houston school with six points. The young women from Texas Southern will carry this night in the record books too, which is a reminder that history always has two benches.
The Angel Reese who sat out the last Texas Southern game is gone. The one who showed up Thursday wore a crown and saw her old program do something no one had ever done. LSU hosts McNeese next Thursday.
