Morrow posts 100th career double-double; LSU Falls to Ole Miss, 85-77

BATON ROUGE – No. 7 LSU (27-4, 12-4 SEC) fell to Ole Miss (19-9, 10-6 SEC) at the PMAC on Sunday afternoon, 85-77.

The Tigers led by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but turnovers allowed Ole Miss to get back in the game and comeback. LSU finished with 23 turnovers, including 14 in the second half. Ole Miss scored 27 points off of turnovers throughout the game. LSU also allowed 38 Ole Miss points in the paint.

“It all began in the second half,” Coach Kim Mulkey explained. “Turnovers. You can’t win anything in sports by turning the ball over and we did it at the beginning of the third quarter and we did it at the beginning of the fourth quarter.”

Aneesah Morrow finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds to record her 100th career double-double. She joined Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris as the only two players with 100 career double-doubles. It marked Morrow’s 26th this season. 

Mikaylah Williams finished with 25 points and five assists and Kailyn Gilbert chipped in 11 points.

Flau’Jae Johnson missed Sunday’s game as she is dealing with a lower leg injury. Coach Kim Mulkey said that Johnson would likely not play next week in the SEC Tournament as the Tigers look to get her fully healthy for the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament. LSU has a double-bye and will play on Friday at 8:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. The Tigers will not know their opponent until Thursday night. Alabama will face either Auburn or Florida Thursday night to determine LSU’s opponent.

The Tigers got off to a strong start in the first quarter, taking the lead from the jump. Morrow scored 11 points throughout the opening quarter to get her senior day off to a good start. LSU took a 19-13 lead into the second quarter.

LSU did a good job of limiting Ole Miss’ ability to get quality shots, holding the Rebels below 30-percent shooting well into the second quarter. But Ole Miss was able to make a dent in the LSU lead at the free throw line. The Rebels cut the lead to three, but Morrow grabbed an offensive rebound, sank the putback and drew a foul to give LSU a 27-22 lead at the media timeout, adding the free throw out of the break in action. With 1:15 left in the quarter, Gilbert hit a three to give LSU a 12-point lead, its largest of the game. The Tigers carried a 44-31 lead into the half.

A 9-0 run early in the third quarter got Ole Miss within six of LSU, but Williams ended the run with her second triple of the game. The Rebels continued to chip away and got it within five, but Williams grabbed a defensive rebound on an Ole Miss fast break and slinged the ball the length of the floor where Morrow was waiting wide open to lay it in. But the Rebels continued to apply pressure and took their first lead of the game with one minute remaining in the third quarter. Williams gave LSU the lead going into the final quarter with a pair of free throws, 64-63.

Ole Miss forced four quick LSU turnovers and took a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter. LSU surged back to take the lead, scoring the next six points as the Tigers forced four quick turnovers by Ole Miss. With 4:51 at the media timeout the game was tied at 70. Neither team created separation as the teams battled it out back and forth. Ole Miss was able to extend its lead to six with just over a minute remaining. The Rebels were able to close out the game as they took home a 85-77 victory.

*LSU press release