BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds and third-seeded LSU responded to a nine-point third-quarter deficit with a dominant finish, defeating No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee 83-56 in a second-round game Sunday. women’s NCAA tournament.
Flau’Jae Johnson scored 21 goals for the Tigers (30-5) and played a key role in helping LSU construct a snug second-half lead that ended the Blue Raiders’ 20-game winning streak.
The decisive victory got here a day after LSU coach Kim Mulkey complained to the Washington Post and threatened potential legal motion for what she described as an impending “hit” against her and promised it might not derail her team’s preparations for games in the NCAA Tournament.
MTSU (30-5) led 41-32 and looked poised to increase its lead when Reese tripped over a fallen teammate while attempting to position himself on the court and hit the court hard, sending the Blue Raiders on a 5-on-4 rushing attack.
However, Jalynn Gregory’s open three-pointer deflected off the back rim to LSU Last-Tear guard Poa, who fired the ball down the court, where Reese just stood up and made an uncontested layup.
That drive resulted in a 10-0 run, fueled in part by Mikaylah Williams’ pull-up in transition and her left corner kick No. 3, putting the Tigers back in front 42-41.
Later in the quarter, Johnson forced a turnover by tying MTSU’s Ta’Mia Scott, then scored a 3, and then hit an out-of-bounds jumper as the shot clock expired.
LSU outscored Middle Tennessee 27-8 in the final 8:22 of the third quarter and took a 59-49 lead on a Reese layup before pulling away for a game-high 30 points.
MTSU’s 6-foot-10 center Anastasiia Boldyreva scored nine points and blocked three shots, but LSU’s physical play in the box continually challenged her and she was fouled just before the end of the third quarter. After this motion, the Tigers turned the match right into a rout.
Savannah Wheeler, the Conference USA Player of the Year, scored 21 points and Scott had 15 for Middle Tennessee, which lost for the first time since Dec. 30.
Aneesah Morrow scored 19 points and Williams added 16 for LSU, which jumped out to a 24-15 lead, prompting roars of laughter from the Pete Maravich crowd.
But in the second quarter, Middle Tennessee seemed unfazed by either the crowd or the Tigers’ ability on the field.
LSU rarely gave the ball away, but the Blue Raiders were capable of steal rebounds from Reese greater than once and outscored the Tigers 25-18 in the first half to take a 36-32 lead.
BIG PICTURE:
MTSU: The Blue Raiders gave LSU all they may handle for nearly 32 minutes, but they lacked the depth to counter the Tigers’ relentless second-half attack. After Boldyreva fouled, MTSU was outshot 28-7 and dropped to 0-5 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
LSU: LSU proved an excessive amount of for MTSU inside, defeating the Blue Raiders 30-18 on the field. The Tigers also shot 41.7% (5 of 12) from three-point range.
IN THE FUTURE:
LSU heads to Albany, New York for the Albany 2 Region semifinals. One more win could potentially pit the Tigers against Iowa and NCAA all-time leading scorer Caitlin Clark in a rematch of last 12 months’s national title game.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
 — Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds and third-seeded LSU responded to a nine-point third-quarter deficit with a dominant finish to defeat upstart No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee 83-56 in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Flau’Jae Johnson scored 21 for the Tigers (30-5) and […]){kind=link}