LSU women's basketball comes back to defeat No. 1 seed Virginia Tech, advance to national championship

In the second half of Friday’s Final Four matchup against Virginia Tech, LSU found itself facing a 12-point deficit. The Hokies contained the Tigers on the glass and was 10 minutes away from a national championship appearance.

Then, the fourth quarter started — and the Tigers were off to the races.

LSU outscored Virginia Tech 29-13 in the final period to complete the comeback, defeating the Hokies 79-72 to advance to the national championship. The Tigers got some huge performances in the final 10 minutes, notably from Angel Reese, who notched her 33rd double-double of the season to help lead LSU to victory.

Alexis Morris led all scorers with 27 points in the game while Reese scored 24 to go with 12 rebounds. Although they were out-rebounded for most of the game, the Tigers closed the gap in a big way in the fourth quarter to spark the comeback. LSU finished the victory with 37 rebounds, four fewer than their season average of 41.

It’s quite a story for LSU in its second year under coach Kim Mulkey. The Tigers are now 33-2 on the season and gearing up for their first-ever national championship appearance. A year before Mulkey’s arrival, LSU finished with nine wins. It marks an incredible turnaround, fueled by new faces from the transfer portal, with one more game left to get to the mountaintop.

One of those new faces is Reese, who started 31 games at Maryland last year and has become the straw that stirs the drink for LSU. Entering play Friday, she averaged 23.2 points per game along with 15.7 boards per contest. She explained the biggest key to the comeback, and there was a simple solution.

“We had to play defense,” Reese said in the postgame interview. “We had to come together and believe in each other and play defense. The game wasn’t over. We had been in situations like this before, so just trust in the coaches and listening to each other.”

But with so many newcomers — and the fact that last year was LSU’s first NCAA Tournament since 2017 — experience could’ve been a factor. Mulkey took Baylor to four Final Fours, meaning she has experience on the big stage. Her players, however, don’t. Still, even early on, she thought the Tigers handled the bright lights well.

“I thought we did fine,” Mulkey told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the first quarter. “We didn’t help on some screens and we can help. I thought we missed some easy shots, but that’s expect. I think you’ve got two teams that are really trying hard.”

Now, the Tigers will await their opponent in the national title game. They’ll face off against the winner of South Carolina vs. Iowa, who play in Friday’s nightcap, on Sunday in Dallas.