To make matters worse for Reese, her rival, Caitlin Clark, showed her star power and massive draw against the same opponents. When Clark and her Indiana Fever played Brazil at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, it was a sellout. The arena was filled to its 14,998 capacity, according to Scott Agnes of Fieldhouse Files.

While Reese was the center of attention Friday night, she wasn't the only player who suited up for Mulkey's Tigers on the Sky roster. Hailey Van Lith, who played the 2023-24 season at LSU, was recently drafted by the Sky. Van Lith put together a successful season at TCU before making the leap to the WNBA.

BATON ROUGE, La. — When the WNBA put together a preseason game between the Sky and the Brazilian national team at LSU, it was built around Angel Reese. There were other storylines, but Reese was the undisputed headliner. And she was thrilled to embrace it.