At this point of the season, it’s not supposed to be easy, and it wasn’t easy for LSU on Friday night as they rallied from five points down in the fourth quarter to beat North Carolina State 80-73.
Senior forward Aneesah Morrow had an All-American performance as she scored 30 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.
“She just works,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “I mean she’s just an undersized post player battling bigger girls, demanding the ball”
Morrow had nine offensive rebounds as LSU outscored North Carolina State in second chance points 22-11.
LSU got another outstanding game from Sa’Myah Smith. The six-foot-two sophomore forward also had a double-double, 21 points and 11 rebounds. When LSU and North Carolina State played in November, Smith didn’t score in 20 minutes as she was still feeling her way back after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year.
“I was still trying to get my feet under me after being out last year, but it’s March, people come to hoop, and when you hoop, you’re just hooping, but just play my role and do my part,” Smith said.
The Wolfpack led by five with four and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, but LSU finished the game on a ten-nothing run, and they did it without star Flau’Jae Johnson, who left the game with about five minutes to go after getting poked in the eye.
She was seeing double vision and was not allowed back in the game, but her teammates said she was very helpful during timeouts, providing words of encouragement and strategy.
One of the biggest plays of the game came when Kailyn Gilbert blocked a short and Mikaylah Williams followed that up with a layup to with 1:07 to give LSU the lead for good 74-73.
Williams had 19 points, while Johnson only had three points.
Mulkey expects Johnson will be ready for Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup against UCLA. The two teams met in the Sweet 16 last year and LSU won 78-69.
It will be a matchup of the two best post players in the country. Morrow for LSU and Lauren Betts for UCLA.
Betts had 31 points and 10 rebounds as the Bruins defeated Ole Miss 76-62. Betts was 15-of-16 from the field.
