BATON ROUGE — With star guard Flaujae Johnson sidelined with a shin inflammation, the LSU Tigers closed out the regular season at home against the Ole Miss Rebels. LSU battled late but came up short losing 85-77 on Senior Night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU jumped out early as Aneesah Morrow scored on back-to-back trips down the court for the Tigers to start the game. A little while later, Morrow hit a three-pointer that pushed LSU’s lead to six points. Ole Miss managed to cut the lead down to four points four times in the final 4:40 of the first quarter. Every time the Tigers responded and pushed back up to six points.
Ole Miss fought back in the second as the Rebels cut the lead down to two after Tameiya Sadler drained a three-pointer. A pair of free throws by Mjarcle Sheppard and then a Morrow jumper made it a six-point lead. Ole Miss answered as Sadler hit another three but LSU countered with a tip-in-layup by Morrow.
After both Kailyn Gilbert and Morrow hit a pair of free throws, Mikaylah Williams hit a jumper to make it an 11-point lead for LSU with 2:15 remaining in the first half. At the break, LSU led 44-31.
With 8:35 left in the third, the Tigers had pushed their lead to 15 points but that is when the Rebels came storming back. A second-chance layup by Sira Thienou sparked a 9-0 run that cut the lead to six points.
LSU seemed to stop the comeback after Williams hit a three-pointer but Ole Miss was undaunted. The Rebels would outscore the Tigers 21-13 in the final 6:06 of the third quarter. Heading to the fourth, LSU led 64-63.
Ole Miss started off the fourth on a 5-0 run to take a 68-64 lead but LSU soon rallied. Williams and Last-Tear Poa both made layups off of turnovers. A free throw by Jersey Wolfenbarger gave the Tigers back the lead and it was extended after a free throw by Morrow. With six minutes left, LSU held a 70-68 lead.
The two teams continued to battle back and forth throughout the rest of the fourth but Ole Miss pulled away late. Madison Scott hit a jumper with 2:45 left and the Rebels were in control the rest of the way, holding Kim Mulkey’s Tigers a bay to pick up the win.
BIG NUMBER: 23
LSU committed 23 turnovers in Sunday’s Senior Night and Ole Miss made them pay for the miscues. The Rebels scored 27 points off of turnovers in the contest.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: ANEESAH MORROW
LSU’s double-double machine made history as she scored a season-high 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. It was the 100th double-double of her career becoming only the second women’s player to reach the century mark. The other player to accomplish the feat was UConn’s Maya Moore who had 149 double-doubles.
UP NEXT: LSU (27-4, 12-4) will be the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. By earning the double-bye, LSU will not play until 7:30 p.m. on Friday. You can listen to the game live on Mustang 107.1 FM.