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.

On Friday, Reese scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a performance reminiscent of the many she played at LSU. Early in the second quarter, she pulled down a board, started a transition chance herself, looked up court and slung a one-handed pass over three defenders and down to Sky guard Rachel Banham, who banked in an open layup.

Angel Reese and Kim Mulkey shared a warm embrace ahead of Reese’s first game back at LSU since entering the WNBA. The gesture served as a precursor for the celebration that followed.