As 5th ranked LSU edges toward the end of regular season, the Lady Tigers are successfully grinding through the fatigue of the final week before postseason play.

Angel Reese powered to her 26th double-double of the season with 23 points and 18 rebounds in LSU’s dominant 82-63 SEC road win at Vanderbilt Thursday night.

The victory clinched a second-place finish in league play for the Lady Tigers (26-1 overall, 14-1 SEC) in the regular season for a second straight season under second-year head coach Kim Mulkey.

A win for LSU in Sunday’s regular season finale at home vs. Mississippi State would tie the current Lady Tigers with the 2004-05 team for the best regular season record in school history at 27-1.

Reese was part of a front-line trio along with LaDazhia Williams (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Sa’Myah Smith (8 points, 3 rebounds) that combined for 44 points and 29 rebounds vs. the Commodores. Point guard Alexis Morris scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half.

LSU's only real challenge was fighting the sweltering temperature in Vandy's ancient Memorial Gym. LSU's trainers cooled the players during timeouts with battery-operated handheld fans.

"We came in here for practice last night and it was hot," said Mulkey, making her first-ever trip to Vanderbilt. "Our players told me, `Don't you know there's no air conditioning in here?

"When it was hot again today at our shootaround, our trainers went and bought those fans. I know Vanderbilt doesn't give a rip what I think. But the SEC gave every school $49.5 million (in revenue sharing this past year). And you can't afford to buy air conditioning?"

The Lady Tigers led by as many as 20 points at 40-20 with 9:51 left in the third quarter before 24-10 Commodores’ run cut LSU’s cushion to 50-44 with 3:57 remaining.

But sparked by Reese’s 6 points and 4 from Morris, a 10-1 LSU burst to close the period gave the Lady Tigers a 60-45 lead entering the final quarter.

Reese and Morris combined for 14 of LSU’s 22 fourth-quarter points to clinch a victory in which the Lady Tigers never trailed.

LSU dominated most of stat categories, especially rebounding (43-29) and points in the paint (46-16).

Vanderbilt (12-17, 3-12 SEC) was led by Ciaja Harbison, who scored 21 points.