No.7 LSU falls on the road at Auburn 67-62

AUBURN, Ala. — A late LSU effort was not enough to overcome a five-point fourth quarter deficit against Auburn on Sunday afternoon. LSU fell 67-62 in front of the 7,720 fans in attendance, which was the largest crowd for an Auburn Women’s Basketball game in Neville Arena.

The game was back and forth the whole way down to the wire. It featured 17 lead changes and was tied seven times. LSU’s nine missed free throws proved critical in the five-point scoring margin.

“We knew that Auburn would get in passing lanes and pressure you and make it very difficult to just make a pass,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “We didn’t handle that very well. I thought energy and enthusiasm. They just came at us from the beginning of the game. We fought back and at half we had a three-point lead, but I’d say defense.”

Angel Reese became the first LSU player since Simone Augustsus to record a double digit game in 50 consecutive games for the Tigers. Sunday’s contest marked Reese’s 50th game in an LSU uniform. Reese ended the contest with 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead all scorers and record her 9th double-double of the season. 

Aneesah Morrow earned her 11th double-double of the season after dropping 12 points and hauling in 15 rebounds. Morrow led all rebounders on the floor. Flau’Jae Johnson was the only other teammate to reach double figures with 12. 

Auburn’s Honesty Scott-Grayson led her squad all afternoon as she scored 21 points on 9-21 from the field. JaMya Mingo-Young was the only other Auburn Tiger to reach double figures with 13 points. 

LSU struggled shooting all afternoon as it finished at 42-percent from the field on 23-55 compared to Auburn’s 44-percent on 26-59. LSU only made 16 of its 25 free throw attempts and allowed 4 three-pointers while not connecting from deep all game. Mulkey’s team outscored its opponent inside the paint 42-28, but could not get its offense going in rhythm. Both teams finished with 10 steals, 11 assists, and Auburn finished with 2 more turnovers, 17. 

LSU will return to the state of Alabama on Thursday to take on the Crimson Tide at 8:00 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum on the SEC Network. 

At the first media timeout Auburn held a 14-9 lead over LSU behind a 6-12 shooting performance from the field. LSU was just 3-9 from the field in the opening six minutes of play. Auburn held LSU without a field goal in the final three minutes as it extended its lead to ten. Scott-Grayson led her squad with 8 points in the first quarter to go up 23-15 over LSU, Reese paced LSU with 7.  

After a slow first quarter, Mulkey’s team went on a 10-0 run behind a 6-9 shooting effort led by Reese. Reese reached double figures early in the second to earn her 50th straight game scoring in double digits. Auburn would not score until four minutes into the quarter as it regained its lead and went up 27-25. Auburn called its first timeout after Mikaylah Williams assisted and scored on two consecutive possessions to give LSU a 33-30 lead with three minutes until the break. LSU ended the half outscoring Auburn 22-11 to take a 37-34 lead into halftime. 

After shooting 33.3-percent in the first, LSU went 11-18 from the field for 61.1-percent in the second quarter compared to Auburn’s 5-13 for 38.5-percent. LSU scored 20 points inside the paint in the second quarter after only scoring 8 down low in the first. Williams finished the half with a career tying 4 steals. 

Auburn opened the third with a 6-0 run to take the lead for the 5th time. It’s lead did not last long as LSU scored 4 straight to make it 44-42. The LSU defense held Auburn scoreless for over two minutes in the middle of the quarter. Following the media timeout Reese went 2-2 from the foul line to move her total to 20 and put LSU back up by 1. LSU held the home team scoreless for three minutes before Scott-Grayson hit a pull up jumper in the corner to end the quarter 52-51, LSU. 

After Scott-Grayson made the go ahead jumper to start the fourth, LSU called a timeout to regroup as it trailed 53-52 with nine minutes left in regulation. At the media timeout Auburn held a four point lead as LSU was still without a field goal in the fourth quarter. Reese earned LSU’s first field goal of the quarter with a put back to make it 59-60 with under three minutes to go. Mingo-Young went 2-2 from the charity stripe to put Auburn back up by 4 with under two minutes remaining. A perfectly run inbound from Last-Tear Poa found a wide open Johnson to make it 62-64. After an LSU turnover with 10-seconds remaining, Auburn went on to make its free throws and give LSU its second loss of the season.