Angel Reese recently shouted out a special message for her childhood bestie, Aniya Gourdine, Southern Jaguars guard. Reese wished Gourdine all the best for her team’s first round in the NCAA tournament against the UCLA Bruins. While Reese has completed her college basketball career and is currently playing for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky, Gourdine is still in college and shining in her squad.
The Southern Jaguars finished at the top of the Southwestern Athletic table with a 15-3 conference score and 21-15 overall. In this college basketball season, Gourdine has a 12.0 point average per game, with 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 helpers in every matchup.
“It’s your very first tournament and I’m super excited for you. …We literally grew up together, literally were best friends growing up from third grade to high school. We was learning how to play basketball together, to winning championships together, to playing at high school together, to you going to college and I’m super proud of your growth on and off the court.” Angel Reese said to Aniya Gourdine according to the March Madness official handle on X.
Angel Reese showing love and support to her childhood teammate, Aniya Gourdine as she plays in the First Round of the tournament with Southern 💙#MarchMadness x 🎥 ESPN / @JaguarsWBB pic.twitter.com/hYP5tmnFlv
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 22, 2025
Angel Reese’s wishes, however, did not bring much luck to the Southern Jaguars who lost abysmally to the UCLA Bruins in the NCAA first round matchup. The Jaguars put up an embarrassing performance and lost 84-46, with Aniya Gourdine leading their offense with ten points. Taniya Lawson added another eight points for the team, while D’Shantae Edwards and Jocelyn Tate each matched six points.

Angel Reese’s LSU Tigers To Take On Florida State To Continue March Madness
In other news, Angel Reese’s college basketball team, the LSU Tigers are scheduled to lock horns with the Florida State Seminoles for the second round of the NCAA tournament. The LSU Tigers were paired with the San Diego State Aztecs in the first round and won with an impressive 103-48 final score.

Against the San Diego State Aztecs, the LSU Tigers were led on the scoreboard by Flau’Jae Johnson who chalked up 22 points on the scoreboard, along with a pair of boards and two helpers, while Mikaylah Williams managed another 13 points, with five boards and three helpers. Aneesah Morrow was another high-scorer for the team with 12 points, while Shayeann Day-Wilson contributed 11 more points.

The LSU Tigers finished their regular season at the top of the Southeastern table with a 12-4 conference score and 29-5 overall, two spots below the ruling South Carolina who finished with a 32-3 overall score.
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Yelle is a broadcast communications graduate from the University of Perpetual Help-Dalta and has pursued a career in television and news writing in Net 25 and Radyo Agila. Some of her works can also be seen through her previous publication in Fastbreak.com.ph.