The 9th ranked LSU women’s basketball team finished in second place in the SEC with a 77-56 victory over Kentucky. The Lady Tigers are 26-4 overall, 13-3 in the SEC.
It was senior day for Angel Reese and she produced another double-double, 22 points and 14 rebounds in the win over the Lady Cats. Reese also had five blocks, with LSU legend Shaquille O’ Neal watching from courtside.
Shaq escorted Reese and her mom to center court for senior day activities during halftime.
Flau’Jae Johnson made several outstanding plays at the rim on Sunday and she scored 21 points, to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.
It was also senior day for Hailey Van Lith as she scored 15 points and only two turnovers in 35 minutes.
LSU did not play freshman Mikayla Williams, as she’s battling a foot injury. Coach Kim Mulkey said they didn’t want to push it with Williams, so they figured it was best for her to take the day off.
It was not a sharp performance for LSU, they had trouble putting Kentucky away. The Lady Cats outscored LSU in the second quarter 18-13 and the Lady Tigers only led by six points at halftime.
Kentucky was also within 11 points with 5:21 left in the 4th quarer but the Lady Tigers went on a 13-0 run to put the game away.
LSU once again held a team to less than 40% from the field. Kentucky shot just 35%.
In the first eight games of conference play, LSU allowed just 70 points a game, in the second eight games, they allowed just 61.
Now it’s on to the postseason. LSU will play on Friday at 5 PM and Auburn is the likely opponent. Auburn beat LSU in January and the Lady Tigers had trouble with them in February as well.
There’s a chance Mulkey will hold Williams out of the SEC Tournament to make sure she’s ready for the NCAA Tournament. Mulkey never puts much stock in the conference tournaments.
LSU is projected as a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament and the chance of moving up to a number 2 seed is slim. Plus, there’s not much of a difference between a two and three seed. Securing a top four seed is what is important, because you get to host the first two rounds.
