23 straight wins and counting for unbeaten 3rd ranked Lady Tigers
Third-ranked LSU completed its three games in seven days survival course Sunday, and it wasn’t easy.
After challenging SEC home wins over Tennessee on Monday and over Georgia in overtime Thursday night, the unbeaten Lady Tigers grinded out a 72-66 league victory at Texas A&M.
LSU (23-0, 11-0 SEC) fought through fatigue vs. the Aggies (6-15, 1-10), overcoming a second half that saw LSU commit nine turnovers with its shooting percentage dropping 10 points.
“These last three games vs. Tennessee, Georgia and today feel like NCAA tournament games with the intensity of them on both sides,” LSU second-year coach Kim Mulkey said afterwards. “Why is that happening? It's because of the attention the program is getting. It's because we're now relevant.”
Lady Tigers sophomore forward Angel Reese, who had 26 points and a school-record 28 rebounds in a 40-point win over the Aggies in January, followed with 26 points and 22 rebounds in Sunday’s re-match.
Fifth-year senior guard Alexis Morris scored 16 of her 22 points in the first half when LSU led 39-26 at halftime. Morris also committed 9 of the Lady Tigers’ 17 turnovers, including 5 of LSU’s nine in the second half before she fouled out.
Sahara Jones and Tineya Hilton led A&M with 14 and 12 points respectively.
Mulkey didn’t complain about getting an SEC road victory. But LSU’s next game set next Sunday at No. 1 and defending champ South Carolina in a battle of unbeatens, the Lady Tigers need to raise their level of play.
“Teams are out-hustling us the last couple of weeks,” Mulkey said. “We’re the hunted and we’ve got to learn how to handle that.“We can't let people out. Hustle us, and I think it's a learning deal. We didn't have the (challenging) non-conference schedule to prepare us for these moments. But we're certainly getting our share of them here in the last couple of weeks.
"We're in February now. Even when I was a player, February is the hardest month because you get tired of each other. You're trying to grind out, wins, finish up the regular season and get to March. It's like you have a breath of fresh air when you get to March.":
Morris and Reese combined for 26 of LSU’s 38 first-half points as the Lady Tigers took a 13-point halftime lead
As impressive as LSU was in the first half, building a double-digit lead a minute into the second quarter, the Lady Tigers appeared just as unimpressive in the third quarter.
LSU’s lead shrunk to 49-42 entering the fourth quarter. A&M outscored LSU 16-10 in the third period when Aaliyah Patty had 9 points and 7 rebounds for the Aggies.
The Lady Tigers re-doubled their efforts to get the ball inside in final period. LSU’s guards got the ball quicker to Reese and LaDazhia Williams in the low post.
That duo first fouled out Patty with 7:21 left to play and then Jada Malone fouled out just under four minutes later.
Back-to-back Morris turnovers led to A&M shrinking LSU’s lead at 60-55 on a Sahara Jones layup with 4:35 left.
LSU pushed its cushion back to 11 with six straight points but the Aggies got it back to a 66-62 game with 1:45 left by hitting six straight free throws.
After Morris fouled out with 1:59 left and Williams out fouled with 1:05 remaining, reserves Last-Tear Poa and Kati Poole responded in final minute with a pair of free throws and assist to Reese on a hook shot respectively for a 72-62 lead with 17 seconds left.
LSU will take the next two days off before beginning preparations to play South Carolina (23-0, 10-0 SEC), which beat the Lady Tigers 66-60 last season in Baton Rouge. The loss broke a 13-game LSU winning streak.
“They're so good,” Mulkey said of South Carolina. “And we'll just do like everybody else. Give them our best shot. We're gonna take it as a great opportunity to learn to evaluate ourselves. Anything can happen.”