The LSU women’s basketball team snapped its two-game losing streak on Thursday when it beat the Georgia Bulldogs 80-59 for its first SEC win of the season. On Sunday, the Tigers hosted and beat the 2nd-ranked Texas Longhorns 70-65, improving to 16-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Flau’Jae Johnson scored the game’s first bucket a minute into the game with a right-wing three-pointer, but Texas ruled the majority of the first quarter. The Longhorns went on a 9-2 run over a five and a half minute span to take a four-point lead. Kyla Oldacre was on cleaning duty, putting up multiple putback layups.
It took until the 1:29 mark of the first quarter for the Tigers to make their next basket when Zakiyah Johnson scored in the paint. Johnson then gave LSU the lead on the next possession with a pull-up jumper from the right elbow. The Bayou Bengals had a chance to extend the lead after Mikaylah Williams stole Madison Booker’s pass, but Johnson also turned the ball over. Booker made a layup as the first quarter expired to tie the game at 11.
The Longhorns jumped out to a 16-12 advantage early on in the second quarter as Jada Richard had a rough couple of minutes. Richard turned it over twice and gave up the and-one layup to Jordan Lee after getting the basketball stolen.
After that, LSU went on a 12-4 run until the 1:40 mark on the quarter to take a four-point lead. It was a group effort, with Williams scoring six points and the other six by Johnson, MiLaysia Fuwiley, and Amiya Joyner. Fuwiley hit a crowd-roaring layup that gave the Tigers the lead and helped transition to a timeout on the floor.
Lee cut it to a one-point difference with a 22-footer, and Oldacre scored in the paint for Texas on the following possession. It wasn’t to hold back LSU late, however, as Williams knocked down another jumper, Zakiyah Johnson had another layup, and Richard closed out the half with another buzzer beater. That last-second shot was a runner and came off a steal by Williams with three seconds left.
LSU went into the locker room with a 30-25 lead over the second-best team in the country.
The game was tame to begin the third quarter. Neither team made consecutive baskets, and they traded through the first three minutes, with LSU up by six points at that point. After that, the Tigers went on a 10-2 run. The run began with a tip-in by Joyner, then Williams with her first made three of the day, and Grace Knoc contributed twice in the paint as LSU was up by 12 with 3:50 to play.
The Bayou Bengal had a couple more shots late, including a quarter-beating layup by Fuwiley after Lee missed a 15-footer. The other bucket was a Zakiyah Johnson layup off a Williams assist.
Booker caught fire in the fourth, scoring 12 straight points for Texas. She knocked down four shots, two of which were behind the arc, and made a pair from the free throw line. The only points scored for LSU in that time were an and-one layup by Flau’Jae Johnson and four points from Richard.
With 1:20 to go, Williams was forced into a fadeaway three with the shot clock expiring. The contest shot was nothing but net, putting LSU ahead by seven. The final minute was a free-throw contest with the Tigers winning it down the stretch.
At the final buzzer, LSU took down the second-ranked Texas Longhorns 70-63 to improve to 16-2 on the season.
BIG NUMBER: 1
For the first time in the Kim Mulkey era, the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team has defeated an AP Top 12 SEC opponent. They were previously 0-9 and had a 0-2 record this season, heading into Sunday’s contest against the Longhorns.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mikaylah Williams
Williams was the spark of LSU’s offense on Sunday, hitting clutch buckets towards the end of the game, finishing with 20 points on 7/13 shooting. The junior guard also recorded seven rebounds, four assists, and five steals in the 70-65 Tiger win over the Longhorns.
UP NEXT: The LSU women’s basketball team won’t return to the hardwood until next Sunday, January 18th, when they travel to Norman, Oklahoma, to take on the Sooners. Tipoff from the Lloyd Noble Arena is set for 2:00, and the action can be heard on Mustang 107.1.
