Baton Rouge, Louisiana – In what was expected to be an easy win to advance to the second round of the March Madness Tournament, Angel Reese and LSU found themselves in a tough battle.

Angel Reese and LSU found themselves in a tough battle against Rice, barely advancing to the second round of the NCAA March Madness Tournament.  © EAKIN HOWARD / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
Despite entering the showdown as 28.5-point favorites, LSU basketball narrowly escaped with a 10-point victory against Rice on Friday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament thanks to some crucial last-second foul shots.

SEC Player of the Year Reese didn’t have her usual dominant performance!

Known for leading the SEC in scoring with an average of 19.0 points per game this season, she struggled, only managing to score 10 points and making just one shot from the field.

Thankfully, she made up the missed scoring with 19 rebounds.

“Ugly win,” Reese said after, as per the AP. “It’s March. Survive and advance.”

“I couldn’t make anything tonight,” she added.

“But it’s like that; it happens sometimes.”

Like Reese, teammate Hailey Van Lith also had an off game, struggling to take care of the basketball.

3-seed LSU survives a tough battle against 14-seed Rice to move on in the women's tourney 😮

pic.twitter.com/xW9OK15fFC

— ESPN (@espn) March 22, 2024

Angel Reese speaks out on team mistakes

Angel Reese didn’t bite her tongue following LSU’s mistakes in their narrow win against Rice.  © EAKIN HOWARD / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
Angel Reese didn’t look too pleased following LSU’s win on Friday.

The power forward didn’t hold back on what the team needs to do in their next matchup against Middle Tennessee on Sunday.

“We’ve got to get back in the lab and figure out where we missed up… and move on the to next game,” Reese said after the game.

Ranked No. 11, the Blue Raiders pushed passed No. 6 Louisville in a nail-bitting one possession win to earn a trip to the second round.

Going to-toe with the Tigers, Middle Tennessee knows they will have to put up a huge performance to advance past the reigning queens of the court.

LSU won’t be able to make the same mistakes they made against Rice, knowing they will be facing an even hungrier team.

.@Reese10Angel on #LSU and their turnovers vs Rice: “We’ve got to get back in the lab and figure out where we missed up…and move on the to next game”. @KATCTV3 pic.twitter.com/Vz3ixxFJEJ

— Jamarcus Fitzpatrick (@JFitzTV) March 22, 2024

Can LSU fix their mistakes in the second round of the NCAA Tournament?

The Tigers will be back against Middle Tennessee on Sunday.