20-0
For the 25th time in as many seasons as a head coach, Kim Mulkey has reached 20 wins.
The #5 Tigers (20-0, 5-0) continued its unbeaten streak as the Tigers rolled the Florida Gators (11-9, 2-4) Sunday afternoon in Gainesville.
LSU’s big three of Aneesah Morrow, Flau’jae Johnson, and Mikaylah Williams led the way for LSU as the trio accounted for 61 of LSU’s 80 points.
Williams had a really good all around game; she led all players with 22 points, including knocking down three three-pointers, had eight rebounds, a pair of assists, and a steal. Morrow recorded her 18th double-double of the season—most among all players in Division 1—with 20 points and 10 rebounds. She had active hands on the defensive end as well grabbing three steals. Johnson had 19 points, four rebounds, and also had three steals.
Turnovers was the name of the game, and ultimately proved to be Florida’s undoing. The Gators turned it over 24 times which LSU turned into 35 points. LSU, on the other hand, only had nine turnovers, a much more manageable number, and Florida was only able to turn those turnovers into nine points.
While LSU won by a comfortable margin, Florida had a 21-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Gators were aggressive early, nabbing 13 rebounds in the quarter and attacking LSU inside with 12 points in the paint. LSU was a little slow getting going and had an inefficient 6-17 shooting start in the first quarter.
LSU’s shooting, or rather its lack thereof, was also a subplot in the win over Florida. While Williams had a good day behind the line (3-7), the rest of her teammates combined to hit one of eight attempts. LSU was also pretty poor at the free throw line, hitting a mediocre 14 of 23 attempts (61 percent).
If LSU’s shooting was a little iffy, it was nothing compared to Florida’s. The Tiger defense came to play Sunday, keeping Florida under 40 percent shooting (37.9 percent), and under 30 percent from three (29.4 percent).
At 20-0 LSU’s passed every test presented to them this year. Up next though is a challenge of a different magnitude: traveling to defending national champion South Carolina’s house on Thursday evening (7:00 P.M., ESPN). The Gamecocks may not be undefeated, but they once again look like the best team in the country and have not yet lost to Mulkey’s Tigers since she’s been in Baton Rouge. The Tigers will get to take their swing Thursday night.