LSU starts strong, dominates Troy in 98-59 win Monday night

BATON ROUGE – No. 7 LSU (5-0) had a dominating performance Monday night in the PMAC with a 98-59 win over Troy (1-4).

Flau’Jae Johnson tied her career-high with 27 points – 15 in the first quarter – and she stuffed the stat sheet. She tacked on 9 rebounds and 5 assists to record her second straight 25-5-5 game. Johnson also had three steals.

Aneesah Morrow recorded her fourth double-double of the season and third straight with a 23 point, 13 rebound and 5 steal performance. 

“I have to find a way to produce offensively or defensively to help my team,” Morrow said. “Being able to get in the passing lanes, being able to be active defensively; that starts from the jump.”

Jersey Wolfenbarger recorded a season-high 12 points on 4-5 shooting with 3 rebounds. Mikaylah Johnson and 14 points to give four Tigers double-figures. Sa’Myah Smith had a productive night too with 9 points and 8 rebounds, a block and a steal.

LSU used a full-court press periodically throughout the game which led to 22 Troy turnovers that led to 30 LSU points. Additionally, LSU’s physical play led to 36 Troy fouls which resulted in the Tigers going 32-44 from the free throw line.

“I thought we created a lot of things in the full-court, particularly with Aneesah on the ball,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “Getting to the foul line is great, but I did not like in the fourth quarter we allowed them to get to the (bonus) at the seven minute mark.”

“We wanted to control the tempo of the game,” Morrow said about the press.

Two Trojans had double figures; Ashley Baez scored 12 points and Fortuna Ngnawo had 10.

The Tigers got their night started with a Morrow layup in the paint. LSU then went to a full-court press and scored two buckets within short succession after back-to-back steals from Johnson and Morrow to force a Troy timeout. The press propelled the Tigers on a 10-0 run and an early 15-5 advantage over the Trojans. After LSU forced another turnover, Last-Tear Poa found Sa’Myah Smith in the paint for the and-1 layup, and Smith converted the free throw. Johnson found success early in the contest, as the standout junior reached 10 points in the first quarter on a layup where she fought through the contact for the and-1. Johnson kept her momentum in the first, draining a three ball off the nice dish from Kailyn Gilbert to increase the Tiger lead to 19. After one quarter, LSU led Troy 35-14 and forced 10 turnovers. Johnson paced LSU on the score sheet with 15 points on 4-5 shooting in the first period of play. 

A Williams three pointer gave LSU their first points of the second quarter. The Tigers kept the pressure on defense as Troy found little success at the basket and started the quarter 1-5 from the field. Both offenses struggled to find points in the second quarter, but Johnson got LSU back on track with 2 made free throws to extend the Tiger lead to 26. Smith showed her defensive versatility with a blocked jumpshot on the perimeter which led to a foul and two free throws for LSU shot stopper. The Tigers continued to turn defense into offense after forcing a turnover to lead to another Williams three pointer. Johnson scored a layup with seconds remaining in the half to give the Tigers a 58-24 lead after two quarters. In the half, LSU shot 17-33 from the field and 3-7 from three point range and forced 16 turnovers. Johnson led the contest with 19 points in the half followed by Morrow with 12. 

The Trojans struck first in the second half with a layup, but Williams responded with a tough mid-range jumper and layup on consecutive possessions to give LSU the 62-28 lead. The Tigers slowed the pace of the game down for Johnson to find space in the mid-range and rattle one home for her 21st point of the night. Williams then displayed her playmaking ability with a smart pass to Smith in the lane for the and-1 bucket. The Tigers went to Smith again off the inbound pass from Poa to earn another tough bucket and increase the lead to 34. LSU was able to get Troy in foul trouble all throughout the third quarter, causing the Trojans to pick up 5 team fouls with 5 minutes remaining in the period. Forward Jersey Wolfenbarger reached double figures in the contest after a pass from Johnson in the lane. Morrow earned her tenth rebound of the night and fourth double-double of the season in the third quarter. This was the third consecutive double-double for Morrow. At the end of the third quarter, LSU led Troy 80-44.

Morrow got the fourth quarter started for LSU with a made free throw. The Tiger offense went cold in the fourth, only scoring one point over the first 4:38 in the period. Morrow ended the dry spell with a layup after getting downhill in the lane. LSU went back to Morrow in the paint and allowed the post producer to get easy buckets once again. Morrow was on a tear in the fourth, scoring nine for the Tigers and forcing a Troy timeout. Johnson hit a three in the fourth to tie her career high of 27.

*LSU press release