BATON ROUGE – With the season three days away, that Atlanta Tipoff Club has announced LSU’s Alexis Morris and Angel Reese have been named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s Watchlist as two of the top players in the country.
Morris and Reese are LSU’s most highly touted players entering the season, both of them earning numerous other preseason honors. Morris is one of 20 players on the Nancy Lieberman Award Watchlist, she is on the Preseason Coaches All-SEC First Team and the Preseason Media All-SEC Second Team. Reese is one of 20 players on the Katrina McClain Award Watchlist, she is on the Preseason Coaches All-SEC First Team and the Preseason Media All-SEC Second Team.
LSU will begin its season Monday when the Tigers host Bellarmine at 7 p.m. inside the PMAC. LSU will host a stuffed animal drive during Monday’s game where fans can donate stuffed animals that the LSU Women’s Basketball program will gift to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health prior to the holiday season.
Morris electrified LSU’s offense during her debut season as a Tiger, earning Second Team All-SEC honors in her first year in Baton Rouge. Morris scored in double-figures during 22 games last season, averaging 15.0 points per game to lead LSU’s returners this season. She is the only player back from last season that averaged over 10 points. In her final season this year, Morris is expected to take on a larger role of leadership within the team and will see more time playing point guard than she did last year.
Reese is ESPN’s No. 1 Impact Transfer, coming to LSU from Maryland over the offseason. She is also ranked as the No. 7 player in the country going into the season by ESPN. The 6-3 forward earned multiple All-America honors last season and led the Terrapins to the Sweet 16 in her sophomore season before entering the transfer portal. With 17.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, Reese was the first Maryland sophomore to average a double-double since 1975. Out of St. Frances Academy, the Baltimore native was the No. 2 overall player in the class of 2020 and was a McDonald’s All-American. Reese has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Fifty players are featured on the preseason watchlist and a midseason team featuring 30 players will be announced in early January. The competition will be narrowed down to 10 national semi-finalists in early March. The finalists for the women’s player of the year will be announced on March 21 and the winner will be named on March 29.
2023 Naismith Trophy Women’s Watchlist
| LAST NAME | FIRST NAME | FULL NAME | CLASS | POS | SCHOOL |
| Boston | Aliyah | Aliyah Boston | Senior | F | South Carolina |
| Battles | Diamond | Diamond Battles | Fifth Year | G | Georgia |
| Beal | Brea | Brea Beal | Senior | G | South Carolina |
| Berger | Grace | Grace Berger | Grad Student | G | Indiana |
| Blackwell | Aijha | Aijha Blackwell | Senior | G/F | Baylor |
| Breen | Sam | Sam Breen | Grad Student | F | UMass |
| Brink | Cameron | Cameron Brink | Junior | F | Stanford |
| Brown | Leigha | Leigha Brown | Fifth Year | G | Michigan |
| Brown-Turner | Jakia | Jakia Brown-Turner | Senior | W | North Carolina State |
| Clark | Caitlin | Caitlin Clark | Junior | G | Iowa |
| Cooke | Zia | Zia Cooke | Senior | G | South Carolina |
| Curry | Jayda | Jayda Curry | Sophomore | G | Cal |
| Czinano | Monika | Monika Czinano | Fifth Year | F/C | Iowa |
| Fudd | Azzi | Azzi Fudd | Sophomore | G | UConn |
| Harmon | Rori | Rori Harmon | Sophomore | G | Texas |
| Holmes | Mackenzie | Mackenzie Holmes | Senior | F | Indiana |
| Horston | Jordan | Jordan Horston | Senior | G | Tennessee |
| Jackson | Rickea | Rickea Jackson | Senior | F | Tennessee |
| Joens | Ashley | Ashley Joens | Senior | G/F | Iowa State |
| Johnson | Diamond | Diamond Johnson | Junior | G | North Carolina State |
| Jones | Haley | Haley Jones | Senior | G | Stanford |
| Jones | Morgan | Morgan Jones | Grad Student | G | Louisville |
| Kelly | Deja | Deja Kelly | Junior | G | North Carolina |
| Key | Tamari | Tamari Key | Senior | C | Tennessee |
| Kitley | Elizabeth | Elizabeth Kitley | Senior | C | Virginia Tech |
| Kneepkens | Gianna | Gianna Kneepkens | Sophomore | G | Utah |
| Leger-Walker | Charlisse | Charlisse Leger-Walker | Junior | G | Washington State |
| Loville | Jade | Jade Loville | Fifth Year | G/F | Arizona |
| Markowski | Alexis | Alexis Markowski | Sophomore | C/F | Nebraska |
| Mikesell | Taylor | Taylor Mikesell | Senior | G | Ohio State |
| Miles | Olivia | Olivia Miles | Sophomore | G | Notre Dame |
| Miller | Diamond | Diamond Miller | Senior | G | Maryland |
| Moore | Aaliyah | Aaliyah Moore | Sophomore | F | Texas |
| Morris | Alexis | Alexis Morris | Fifth Year | G | LSU |
| Morrow | Aneesah | Aneesah Morrow | Sophomore | F | DePaul |
| Osborne | Charisma | Charisma Osborne | Senior | G | UCLA |
| Owusu | Ashley | Ashley Owusu | Senior | G | Virginia Tech |
| Paopao | Te-Hina | Te-Hina Paopao | Junior | G | Oregon |
| Reese | Angel | Angel Reese | Sophomore | F | LSU |
| Reese | Cate | Cate Reese | Fifth Year | F | Arizona |
| Robertson | Taylor | Taylor Robertson | Fifth Year | G | Oklahoma |
| Ryan | Emily | Emily Ryan | Junior | G | Iowa State |
| Selland | Myah | Myah Selland | Redshirt Senior | F | South Dakota State |
| Sheldon | Jacy | Jacy Sheldon | Senior | G | Ohio State |
| Shelley | Jaz | Jaz Shelley | Junior | G | Nebraska |
| Siegrist | Maddy | Maddy Siegrist | Senior | F | Villanova |
| Ustby | Alyssa | Alyssa Ustby | Junior | G | North Carolina |
| Van Lith | Hailey | Hailey Van Lith | Junior | G | Louisville |
| Wells | Destinee | Destinee Wells | Junior | G | Belmont |
| Williams | Madi | Madi Williams | Fifth Year | F | Oklahoma |