Why LSU's Angel Reese said trash talking in NCAA Championship was for 'girls that look like me'

DALLAS – Twitter blew up Sunday evening when Angel Reese used Caitlin Clark's taunting against her.

In the final minutes of the NCAA National Championship game, Reese pointed to her ring finger while staring Clark down. But she sparked debate online when she used the "you can't see me" gesture that Clark had used against Louisville in the Elite Eight. The gesture was made famous by WWE wrestler John Cena, who responded to Clark's performance on Twitter.

But Reese isn't bothered by what people think of her passion and trash talking on the court.

"I don't care about anybody else and what they have to say about me," Reese said. "That's the difference between me and a lot of people. I don't. The biggest goal for me is the national championship. I don't care to be All-American. I don't care to be defensive player of the year, player of the year. The biggest goal is to be a national champion, and that's what I did."

Reese had a double-double in both Final Four games and had 15 points and 10 rebounds in LSU's 102-85 win over Iowa to win the program's first national title.

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Reese and Clark were two of the most highlighted trash talkers this season, though Reese is the one who often faces blowback for her antics. Reese said she loves reading the comments on Twitter about her.

"I have all the screenshots of what everybody has said about me all season," Reese said. "What are you going to say now?"

Reese said Twitter will get enraged every time, but she doesn't mind. She's happy after helping lead LSU to the program's first NCAA Championship. Reese believes she has helped grow the game this season.

"All year I was critiqued about who I was," Reese said. "I don't fit the narrative. I don't fit in a box that y'all want me to be in. I'm too hood. I'm too ghetto. Y'all told me that all year. But when other people do it, y'all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that's going to speak up on what they believe in. It's unapologetically you. That's what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. It was bigger than me."

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Why Angel Reese's trash talking was for 'girls that look like me'