Flau'jae Johnson after South Carolina loss: 'We've got work to do'

No. 9 LSU controlled most of its game against No. 1 South Carolina on Thursday night, until a late surge by the Gamecocks allowed them to pull out a 76-70 win.

Tigers big Angel Reese fouled out in the fourth quarter, which was a pivotal moment in the contest. Still, LSU remained in it with a chance until the very end.

Players came away treating the game as a learning experience.

“We just got work to do. We’ve got work to do as a team,” Tigers star Flau’jae Johnson said. “Our coaches, me being a leader, I have work to do in those moments. I think it’s just going to be continue playing together. I think we needed a game like this where we had the lead going into the half. At the end of each quarter we gave up threes. We lost by six. So tightening up on things like that. The crowd was loud and into it. And we’ve got to be able to communicate better.”

LSU led 56-52 at the end of the third quarter, before South Carolina’s surge really began in earnest.

South Carolina’s Raven Johnson got hot down the stretch, as did Bree Hall. Hall knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, while Johnson scored five in the closing moments to pull out the win.

The Tigers blamed the stumble down the stretch on their mental lapses.

“I would say our attention to detail and staying poised throughout the game,” guard Aneesah Morrow said. “We had a lot of times where we let South Carolina rush us. We have to stay poised and we have to pay attention to detail.”

LSU had five players finish in double figures scoring, led by Morrow with 16. Reese also chipped in 15 before she fouled out, while transfer Hailey Van Lith contributed 13.

Still, it wasn’t enough to pull out a win.

The good news for the Tigers is that they still feel like they can take something away from the marquee matchup, which averaged 1.56 million viewers and outdrew the NBA on TNT on Thursday night.

“Like I said, I’m proud,” Johnson said. “That was the No. 1 team in the nation. Stacked team. But I just felt like we was almost there. We was almost there.”