All that Jaz hits all the right notes in a 3-point Lady Tigers barrage

A laughing Jasmine Carson launched herself into the waiting arms of her joyous LSU teammate Angel Reese.

The wiry West Virginia graduate transfer had just banked in a twisting 24-foot fallaway 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer sounded confirming LSU’s 17-point halftime lead over Iowa in the NCAA women’s national championship game Sunday in Dallas' American Airlines Center.

“I was just living in the moment,” Carson said. “Usually I don't even celebrate after I make a shot, but tonight I just let it all out. I made a three. I was like, I just had to let it out.

Her shot capped the best shooting quarter of her life on college basketball’s biggest stage – 6 of 6 field goals including 4 of 4 3s – to account for 16 of LSU’s 32 second quarter points.

Even more so, she buried Iowa in a grave it couldn’t quite escape by scoring 14 points in a 23-10 run in the final 6:36 of the first half with LSU’s top two scoring options Reese and point guard Alexis Morris on the bench in foul trouble.

Yep, the player who had missed 23 of her previous 26 3-pointers finished with a team-high 22 points on 5 of 6 3's and kept the Tigers upright and rolling to a record-breaking 102-85 win for the school’s first-ever national title in its sixth Final Four trip.

Considering Carson had been scoreless in LSU’s three previous NCAA tourney games missing all six of her field goal attempts including five 3’s, she probably barely showed up on Iowa’s scouting report.

That may have explained the stunned looks from the Hawkeyes’ players as they made their way to their dressing room at halftime to make sense of it all.

“The story of the first half is No. 2, she comes in, Carson, and makes quite a few shots, and ends it with a banked three,” said Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who scored 30 points and set five Final Four records but exited with no national title ring.

Carson was a staple in LSU’s starting lineup all season until the Lady Tigers’ NCAA tourney second round game against Michigan.

LSU second-year head coach Kim Mulkey wanted a bigger body in the lineup for defensive purposes, so she replaced Carson with Ohio State transfer Kateri Poole.

But when Mulkey was forced in the second quarter against the Hawkeys to use reserves with starters Reese, Morris and Flau’jae Johnson saddled with two fouls each, she didn’t hesitate turning to Carson, junior college transfer guard Last-Tear Poa and freshman center Sa’Myah Smith.

“Jasmine may be the second best pure shooter that I've ever coached in my career,” said Mulkey, who won her fourth national title (the first three coaching Baylor) in 23 seasons as a head coach. “She can just light it up. When she made those first couple, I thought just keep it close until I can get them (the three starters) back on the floor.

“Then Poa hits a three. Jasmine hits another three. Sa'Myah's in there battling. When those guys got in there and they extended the lead and scored with Iowa, I thought this is going to be a fun night. They won the game for us.”

Morris said she could tell Carson was locked in at LSU’s morning practice earlier in the day.

“I asked her, I was like `You want to get extra shots?’,” Morris said. “She's like, `No, I'm good.’ I said, `You ready for tonight?’

“She hit her first few shots, and Iowa called a timeout. I said to her, `Stay right there. Stay locked in. Whatever head space you're in, do not check out. Just stay ready.’”

Every Lady Tiger who stepped on the court was focused. And after a year in which Reese and Morris carried LSU to most of its wins in its glorious 34-2 season, what became apparent in the Lady Tigers’ last three NCAA tourney games when Reese was surrounded by defenses and Morris’ offense was sometimes spotty until fourth quarters was other players stepped up their play.

Graduate forward LaDazhia Williams averaged 16 points in the last four NCAA tourney games. Her 24 points vs. Utah in the Sweet 16 semis and her 20 points against Iowa were her two top scoring games of the season.

Freshman guard Flau’jae Johnson, who opened Sunday’s game with two turnovers in the first 63 seconds, finished with her best performance of the tourney with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Though Reese was voted by the media as the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four as she averaged 19.5 points and 11 rebounds in wins over Virginia Tech and Iowa, the Lady Tiger really responsible for getting LSU over the finish line and into the history books was Morris.

Against the Hokies and the Hawkeyes, she averaged 24 points and 5.5 assists and scored 44.6 percent of LSU’s fourth quarter points (10 vs. Virginia Tech, 15 vs Iowa).

The Beaumont, Texas native, whose series of off-court problems got her tossed off of Baylor’s team after her freshman season in 2017-18 by then-Bears’ coach Mulkey, paid Mulkey in full for Mulkey allowing her to transfer to LSU last season.

“That's just me knowing the moment, getting a feel for the game, and just being their senior leader and not letting my teammates down, Coach Mulkey down. LSU, the fans who drove hours, flew out here,” Morris said of hitting 6 of 6 shots in the final period to close out the Hawkeyes. “I was so determined not to let nobody down tonight.

"I got dismissed (before the) 2018-2019 (season). That's the year they (Baylor) won a National Championship. Coach, we got it back. I appreciate you for giving me the opportunity."