No. 7 LSU takes down Northwestern State, 95-36

No. 7 LSU (2-0) put together a strong defensive showing and led from start to finish Friday night in the PMAC, taking down Northwestern State (1-1), 95-36.

Junior Flau’Jae Johnson led LSU in the game with a team-high 24 points on 10-16 shooting to go with 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Johnson continued her streak of 20 point games, increasing the tally to five dating back to last season. Mikaylah Williams also provided a spark on both sides of the floor, as the standout sophomore finished with 16 points, 4 assists and 4 steals to help seal a Tiger win. In the victory, LSU also saw every player on the floor register a point. 

Kailyn Gilbert played an effective game with 13 points and 7 rebounds to go along with a team-high 6 steals. Aalyah Del Rosario led the team with three blocks.

“She has really put in the effort in practice and it is showing every game,” Morrow said about Gilbert. “She was blessed with speed and quickness, so she has the lateral speed to get to loose balls.”

LSU was efficient on the offensive end, shooting 39-74 as a team and grabbing 16 offensive rebounds. On the defensive end, LSU applied constant pressure to the NSU and forced the Demons to a 11-59 mark from the field with 28 turnovers. LSU held NSU to 8 points or less in each of the final three quarters. The Tigers had 21 steals and forced 28 turnovers.

“I never talk about how many points we can score,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “I just always want to say can you keep them at this? I think they (NSU) scored 36 points on us last year and I said, can you keep them below 36 this year; a new team, let’s see what we can do.”

With LSU slated to face Alabama on the football gridiron Saturday night in Death Valley, multiple ESPN personalities were around throughout the day. Holly Rowe attended shootaround the game, spending much of the third quarter on the SEC Network+ broadcast to talk about the Tigers and the women’s basketball season. Nick Saban spoke to the team at shootaround. Johnson will be on ESPN’s College Gameday on Saturday morning at 9:18 a.m. CT.

The Tigers will return to the floor on Tuesday at 11 a.m. CT to host Charleston Southern their annual field trip game

LSU started the contest quickly, after Morrow dropped a mid-range jumper only seconds after the tip-off. After stifling NSU on two straight possessions, Williams got a three pointer to fall for the Tigers to gain an early 9-2 advantage. Johnson got her night started on a mid-range jumper after coming off a screen from Smith. After NSU found success from three point range, Johnson prevented a run with a strong bucket inside the paint. LSU continued to stifle the Demons on the defensive end, generating turnovers and low-percentage looks consistently. After forcing a turnover, Kailyn Gilbert found a lane in the fastbreak and connected on an off-balance layup to extend the Tiger lead. After one quarter of play, the Tigers led NSU 24-14 and shot 11-19 from the field and 1-6 from three point range in the first period. Defensively, LSU held NSU to 5-16 from the field and forced 7 turnovers. 

Morrow got things started for LSU in the second quarter, dropping two free throws after a foul in the paint. After a defensive rebound, Johnson found space in the mid-range and cashed a jumper to increase LSU’s advantage. NSU continued to find success from three point land, and dropped another triple in response to Johnson’s jumper. The Tigers got the PMAC rocking after a Johnson putback and-1 layup that boosted the energy on the court. LSU then forced a turnover on the defensive end and capitalized with a Jersey Wolfenbarger layup for the easy two points. After an NSU timeout, LSU played swarming defense and forced an 8 second violation which led to a Johnson three pointer. Williams then connected on a three pointer, and Gilbert created an open layup with a shifty move to cap off a 15-0 LSU run over the Demons. Gilbert continued her momentum, forcing a steal and dropping a mid-range jumper in short succession. At the half LSU held a 53-22 lead over NSU and shot 21-41 with 16 turnovers forced. The Tigers out-rebounded the Demons 24-16 with Johnson and Morrow both registering 5 boards in the first half of play. 

Smith dropped a layup to get the second half scoring started for LSU. After LSU forced back-to-back turnovers, Gilbert fired a pass to Johnson, who dropped the step-back mid-range to pile onto the LSU lead. Following a scoring drought from both teams, Morrow worked into the post for an and-1 layup, on which she converted the free throw. The Tigers forced five turnovers in four minutes, of which Gilbert converted two layups to increase LSU’s lead to 46. At the end of the third, the Tigers led the Demons 74-28. To end the period, LSU forced NSU to shoot 0-10 with 9 turnovers. 

Johnson dropped a three pointer to begin the fourth for the Tigers. After a Williams defensive rebound, the Tigers pushed the ball down the court and found Smith in the paint for a layup. The Tigers came out of a timeout with a patient offense, as Shayeann Day-Wilson found a high percentage look in the mid range for an easy two points. Aaylah Del Rosario converted an and-1 layup in the post after an impressive entry pass from Day-Wilson. The Tigers closed out the contest with a Jada Richard layup off a NSU turnover to reach the final score of 95-36.