I don’t know if anyone else will say it. But I will say it. Monday night’s second half against Florida State was the best half of basketball LSU has played since the first half of the 2023 national championship game victory against Iowa.
A one-point lead for LSU at halftime, quickly became a blowout victory as the Lady Tigers outscored Florida State 31-6 in the third quarter and went on to win 101-71 to advance to the Sweet 16 for a third consecutive season.
LSU shot 56% from the field and had 29 assists.
In nearly 23 minutes of action, Mikaylah Williams had 28 points, and Aneesah Morrow had another double-double, 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Sa’Myah Smith had her best game in an LSU uniform as the six-foot-two redshirt sophomore had 20 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Smith was also 9-of-9 from the field.
While the focus will be on LSU’s impressive third quarter, the second quarter was equally important. Flau’jae Johnson and Williams didn’t play for most of the second quarter because of foul trouble, but others stepped up including freshman Jada Richard who had six points.
“Just
“My mindset was to be fearless, and when I saw opportunities to score, I took it and the ball went in,” Richard said.
LSU was outscored 25-19 in the second quarter, but it could have been worse.
Florida State entered the game ranked first in scoring offense, but LSU held the Seminoles to 36-percent shooting and 24-percent from three-point territory.
The nation’s leading scorer, Florida State junior Ta’Niya Latson, had 30 points, but 23 came in the first half as LSU forced her to shoot three pointers in the second half instead of getting to the rim. Latson was 2-of-10 from three-point territory.
LSU will now play North Carolina State in the Sweet 16. The two teams met in November in the Bahamas and LSU won 82-65.
The Wolfpack with great guard play went on to win the ACC regular season title and played in the ACC title championship game. They earned a two-seed in the Spokane 1 Regional.
NC State is 28-6 overall after reaching the Final Four last year.
But LSU doesn’t plan on stopping at a Sweet 16 appearance.
“We don’t play to just get to a Sweet 16 at LSU women’s basketball anymore, not that we take it for granted, but our goal every year is just to make a run and see if you can get to another Final Four and see if you can upset somebody you’re not supposed to upset,” said coach Kim Mulkey said. “We weren’t talked about at all when we won it two years ago, so let’s see what we can do.”
