Johnson and Morrow return in form as LSU dismantles San Diego State 103-48 in the NCAA Tournament
Johnson and Morrow return in form as LSU dismantles San Diego State 103-48 in the NCAA Tournament
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Flau’Jae Johnson scored 22 points, Aneesah Morrow had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and LSU set a school record for points in a women’s NCAA Tournament game with a 103-48, first-round victory over San Diego State on Saturday night.
Morrow increased her nation-leading double-double tally to 28 in her first game since hurting her left foot during a March 8 loss to Texas in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Johnson, who missed that tournament with a right shin injury, wore a compression sleeve over her lower leg but exhibited the explosiveness, shooting touch and all-around panache that has made her one of the most popular players in women’s college basketball.
“I told myself when I came back that I want to be the energy for the team,” Johnson said. “I feel like when you don’t get a chance to play basketball, it really changes your perspective on coming out and giving everything you got.
Morrow termed LSU’s landmark point total and 55-point victory margin “a confidence thing,” and a “momentum builder for March.”
Mikaylah Williams added 13 points for LSU (29-5), the third seed in the Spokane 1 region, which moves on to host No. 6 seed Florida State in a second-round game on Monday night.
And LSU’s stars will enter that game without having exerted themselves too heavily in their March Madness opener. Tigers coach Kim Mulkey was able to limit Morrow’s playing time to 25 minutes and Johnson’s to 22.
“I’m watching a lot of these first-round games where (other teams’) main players are having to play extended minutes just to win a game,” Mulkey said. “Fortunately for us tonight we didn’t have to do that.”
San Diego State (25-10), winner of the Mountain West Conference, did not have a single player score in double digits. Adryana Quezado led the Aztecs with eight.
“We knew we were going to get outrebounded. We knew who was going to shoot the ball the majority of the time. And we knew about (LSU’s) transition,” San Diego State coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said. “But I think it was a little bit faster than we were ready for.
“If they can play that fast and score the way they did, it’s going to be a hard out moving forward,” Terry-Hutson said.
LSU began the game with an 11-0 run capped by Johnson’s steal and layup, which she celebrated by blowing a kiss toward the student section behind the basket.
“And my boyfriend was there,” Johnson said with a smile before clarifying that the gesture was in fact meant for all of the students at the game.
Sa’Myah Smith’s layup made it 31-10 just two minutes into the second quarter, and LSU led by 32 in the first half when Morrow’s jumper capped a 7-0 run.
Takeaways
San Diego State: The Aztecs had won eight straight to get to their first NCAA Tournament since 2012, when SDSU also lost a first-round game to LSU in Baton Rouge. This trip went no better in large part because of the Tigers’ size and defensive play. After shooting 43.6% all season, the Aztecs made just 32% (18 of 56) of their shots against LSU and were outrebounded 53-31.
LSU: After getting the rest they needed, the Tigers had their full complement of healthy players and wasted no time establishing their supremacy on both ends of the court. LSU shot 59% in the first half and made six of its first 10 shots from deep. The only real question after that was how big the final margin would be. The Tigers shot 50% (36 of 72) for the game and finished 10 of 18 from 3-point range.
Key stat
LSU scored 25 points off of 19 SDSU turnovers. The Aztecs had two points off of 11 Tigers turnovers.
Up next
LSU aims to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, a streak that began during its 2023 national title run. Last season the Tigers advanced to the Elite 8 before losing to Iowa.
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By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
