Empowering Women in Sport, Angel Reese Congratulates Olivia Dunne and LSU Gymnastics After NCAA Finals Victory

In collegiate gymnastics, success is measured not only in points and titles but also in the camaraderie among the participating athletes. Often, that camaraderie goes beyond a single sport. Precisely such a moment was created recently after the LSU gymnastics team’s triumph. After ten historic NCAA Championship appearances and their second consecutive finals appearance, the LSU Tigers won their first national championship in an exciting matchup in Fort Worth, Texas. Fate intervened after a couple of failures on the vault sank Utah’s lead, driving LSU to victory in the fourth rotation.

The nail-biting closing saw the Tigers rely on their beam performance in the last rotation to secure the victory. As the dust fell and the confetti flew, among the happy LSU contingent was Angel Reese, LSU senior basketball standout and 2024 WNBA Chicago Sky draftee whose authentic congrats echoed the celebration of girl power.

LSU’s victory in the 2024 women’s national gymnastics championship was nothing short of incredible, as they established their dominance with a season-high score of 198.2250. Moments into their debut win, the team declared on X: “NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. LET THAT SINK IN.” Angel Reese, last season’s NCAA basketball tournament MVP, joined in the X celebrations, applauding the squad with infectious enthusiasm: “NATIONAL CHAMPS!! YESSSSS!!!!! Congrats girliessssss!!! @LSUgym.“

While perfect 10s were nowhere on the leaderboard today, LSU’s Haleigh Bryant and California’s Mya Lauzon won the all-around title with a score of 39.7125, which included a shared best vault score of 9.9500. Konnor McClain also scored an impressive 9.962 on the beam. The Tigers defeated California, Utah, and Florida (in the said order) to win the national championship. Olivia Dunne remained an integral part of the LSU team, and played an important role throughout the season, despite dropping from national competition. Interestingly, this is not the first time Reese took to social media for the LSU gymnastics team.

Empowering themselves and each other on the way

Just three weeks back LSU gymnastics team won their fifth conference title at the SEC Championships, cementing their position as a promising seed in college gymnastics. Olivia Dunne led the team to standout performances contributing to vault and floor routines. Notable achievements included Haleigh Bryant’s vault score of 9.975 and Kiya Johnson’s spectacular Yurchenko double, which helped LSU set a program record on the floor with a score of 49.675. To commemorate their win, Dunne’s loyal ally Reese took to her Instagram to share a photo of the victorious LSU gymnasts. That comes as a testament to the success of women athletes in different genres of sports and their support for others in the business. And that success is not only limited to the field but off it as well.

Known for their presence in the highest-grossed NIL deals within the collegiate landscape, Reese and Olivia are the epitome of women’s athletic might with their shared camaraderie. As of March 2024, the NIL valuation of Olivia Dunne is $3.6 Million, according to estimates by On3. In that, she sits just behind USC’s Bronny James and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. That also makes Olivia the highest-paid female student-athlete. Angel is also not far behind. As per On3, earlier this year, she was ranked eighth for most NIL earnings. She had a whopping 17 different NIL sponsorship deals in the 2022-2023 season, according to reports. Her recent four-year WNBA contract with the Chicago Sky is worth $324,383. That is how the young women continue to grow, standing for each other, hand-in-hand.