NASSAU, Bahamas – No. 7 LSU (7-0) trailed Washington (6-2) for nearly 35 minutes, but Kailyn Gilbert’s scooping, left-handed layup with a second left propelled the Tigers past the Huskies, 68-67, to give them a win in their first of two games at the Pink Flamingo Championship.
Washington led in the second half by as many as 12 and in the fourth quarter by as many as 6. LSU trailed Washington by one point and defensive pressure forced a dead-ball turnover, giving LSU 20 seconds to try to win after not holding the lead since early in the first quarter. Last-Tear Poa delivered an errant pass on the ensuing play to Flau’Jae Johnson who saved the ball from going into the backcourt for a violation. Johnson’s save made its way to Gilbert who got the loose ball on the right wing with roughly six seconds remaining. She sliced through the lane, gathering through two Washington defenders towards the left block. Her lefty layup spun around and stopped on the rim before dropping through the bucket with one second remaining. Washington called a timeout and Gilbert stole the ball on the inbound pass to prevent the Huskies from having a chance to win the game.
“That was not a clean possession where we could really get something and be settled,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “KG, loose ball on the floor, gets it with 6.1 seconds left and did what ballers do. You just duck your head and you go in there and make something happen.”
NC State defeated Southern on Monday to set up the Pink Flamingo Championship game. The Tigers and Wolfpack will face each other on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. CT in the championship game on FloCollege.
Johnson led the Tigers in the contest with 19 points on 8-19 shooting and tacked on 4 rebounds and 4 steals to help seal the win for LSU.
Both of LSU’s starting posts Sa’Myah Smith and Aneesah Morrow logged double-doubles in the game. Sa’Myah Smith had 16 points and 15 rebounds, 11 of which came on the offensive glass. Morrow, who recorded her 80th career double-double, finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Together Morrow and Smith combined for 17 of LSU’s 27 offensive rebounds which helped give LSU a 26-10 advantage in second-chance points.
“They were battling in there,” Coach Mulkey said about the play of Morrow and Smith. “Morrow was double teamed every time she caught the ball. For those two kids to have double-doubles and our perimeter is supposed to be our strength, well that was good for our team because it will help for confidence with the post play.”
Sayvia Sellers scored a game-high 24 points, but fouled out with just over four minutes left. In total three Huskies scored double figures. All five Washington starters scored at least 8 points, but the Huskies finished with zero bench points.
For LSU to win, the Tigers had to navigate their worst shooting game of the season against a tough Washington 3-2 zone defense. LSU finished 33-percent for the game and just 16-percent from beyond the arc. Washington, on the other hand, shot 44-percent throughout the game and 30-percent from three. The Huskies built a 13 point lead by the end of the first quarter. LSU chipped away throughout the rest of the game, outsourcing Washington in the next three quarters before Gilbert’s late bucket finally gave LSU a margin to win the game.
“We’re very lucky to have won the game, but you create your own luck,” Coach Mulkey said. “Had we not won the game, I still would have been proud of the effort that was given by that group on the floor the last 5 to 10 minutes. They fought really hard to make positive things happen.”
The Tigers started the game strong and jumped out to the early 4-0 advantage, but Washington then went on a 7-0 run in the first to regain the lead. Both teams started slowly on the offensive end, shooting under 40 percent from the field going into the media timeout. The Huskies came out of the break strong, and jumped out to a 17-8 lead with 3 minutes remaining in the first. The LSU offense continued to struggle in the first, as the Tigers turned the ball over 6 times in the first period. At the end of the first quarter, LSU trailed Washington 11-24. The Tigers went 5-17 from the field in the first and were 0-5 from three point range. Washington’s Sayvia Sellers led the quarter in scoring with 9 points.
LSU struck first in the second quarter with a Johnson layup in the lane. After being down as much as 14 points, LSU clawed their way back and cut the Washington lead to 5 after three pointers from Morrow and Johnson. Washington responded to LSU’s efforts with a three pointer from Sellers and another layup to push the margin back to 10 points. The Huskies led the Tigers 36-29 at the half. LSU was 12-39 from the field and 3-12 from three and ended with 7 turnovers in the half. The Tigers outscored the Huskies 18-12 in the second quarter to stay in the game, and Morrow led LSU with 6 points in the quarter.
Smith converted an and-1 layup to get LSU started in the second half. The Tigers were able to cut the Washington lead to 6 points with 7 minutes remaining in the quarter after contributions from Johnson and Morrow. Washington expanded on the lead throughout the final minutes of the third, moving the needle in their favor with a 13 point lead. The Tigers continued to fight on the offensive end with Smith and Morrow delivering crucial points, but the Huskies had a response to the efforts on every occasion. Smith earned her 10th rebound of the day in the third to record her first double-double of the season. At the end of the third quarter, LSU trailed Washington 52-48.
Morrow earned her 10th board of the night to record her 6th double-double of the year and 80th of her career overall. Johnson and Kailyn Gilbert both scored in the beginning of the fourth quarter to cut Washington’s lead to 3 points. Morrow converted two free throws after a shooting foul to shorten Washington’s lead to 2 points once again. Washington’s Sellers dropped a three pointer and increased the Husky advantage to 5 points. Morrow scored on back-to-back possessions to keep LSU in a one score contest. Johnson rattled off five straight points to take Washington’s 6 point lead down to a 1 point advantage with 44 seconds remaining in the game. Gilbert converted a layup with only 1 second left in the game to seal the win for the Tigers. Washington took a timeout to advance the ball to the right sideline. On the inbound, Gilbert picked the ball off and time expired for LSU to remain undefeated.
**LSU press release
