BATON ROUGE – No.7 LSU finished exhibition play on Wednesday night with a win over LSU-Alexandria, 117-37.
“We have a team that has speed and quickness and depth when they all get healthy,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “We’re going to push it. I think you can throw it up the floor. We’re going to run. I think we’re athletic and can do it. I think we have posts that can do it.”
The Tigers were led by Flau’jae Johnson, who finished the game with 29 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Aneesah Morrow finished again with a double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists on the night.
Kailyn Gilbert stuffed the stat sheet as she tacked on 26 points on 8-11 shooting with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. LSU was relentless on the defensive end, recording 12 steals as a team and forcing 25 turnovers. The Tigers were efficient shooting the ball as well, shooting 68 percent from the field and 56 percent from three point range.
LSU held all LSUA players below 10 points as the Tigers limited the Generals’ offensive production.
The Tigers will begin their season on Monday when they host Eastern Kentucky at 7 p.m. in the PMAC.
Sa’Myah Smith got the night started for the Tigers, scoring buckets on back-to-back possessions to give the Tigers a quick 4-0 advantage in the first. After a stop on defense, Gilbert found Johnson on the wing for a three point shot to give LSU an 11-5 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first. Gilbert then responded with a three of her own and a layup in the paint to force an LSUA timeout. After the break, Smith found a groove in the paint, making two layups in quick succession to give the Tigers a 25-5 lead. Johnson kept the momentum going with a fastbreak and-1 layup in the paint.
The Tigers got things going quickly in the second quarter, with Johnson draining an and-1 midrange jumper. After an Aalyah Del Rosario block, Johnson found Amani Bartlett in the paint to lead to an easy two points for LSU. Bartlett found her second layup of the contest off of a great dish from forward Aneesah Morrow. Jada Richard found success in the mid-range throughout the quarter, making two baskets in short order. Morrow then got a three point shot to fall to increase the LSU lead to 41 with three minutes remaining in the period. Morrow continued to make plays in the second, recording back-to-back steals that led to a layup and an assist for the Tigers. At the half, the Tigers led 67-18 over LSUA and excelled in all facets on the game.
LSU kept the defensive energy going in the second half, with Johnson earning a chase-down block and stole the ball on the next possession to cash a layup. Johnson then drained a pull-up three to break the 20 point mark in the contest. The Tigers continued to find success with the ball in Johnson’s hands, with the standout guard getting to the hoop and making an and-1 layup to keep her hot streak going. LSU kept their foot on the pedal, pushing the pace on offense and swarming the Generals on defense throughout the quarter. Johnson maintained her impressive pace over the span of the entire quarter, leading the Tigers with 12 points on 5-6 shooting in the period.
Morrow earned her 10th point of the night to record her second consecutive double-double of the season to begin the fourth quarter. Morrow kept the pressure in the paint, dropping an and-1 layup to continue her strong fourth quarter. Smith got in on the action, jumping for a putback layup to earn her 12th point of the night. Gilbert made her presence felt in the fourth as well with a nice jumper to help the Tigers eclipse 100 points in the game.
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