(photo credit: Chelsea Reinhardt)
BATON ROUGE – LSU set a program record for points in a NCAA Tournament Saturday night, defeating San Diego State in the PMAC, 103-48, to advance to the second-round.
“I think the word unselfish is pretty spot on,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “I said that to them in the timeout. We had a lot of ball reversal. We shared the ball. We also have a talented team in that they don’t have to share the ball sometimes. They can just take you off the dribble. And we did some of that in spurts tonight.”
LSU will face Florida State in the Round of 32 on Monday in the PMAC at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Seminoles took down George Mason Saturday in the PMAC, 94-59.
LSU’s previous record for the NCAA Tournament was the 102 points scored to capture the 2023 National Championship.
Records are made to be broken 🤩 pic.twitter.com/bhCg3KvtQq
— LSU Women’s Basketball (@LSUwbkb) March 23, 2025
“That’s something that’s very powerful,” Aneesah Morrow said of the record. “And being able to come together as a team and accomplish that is big. I know it was more than they scored in the national championship. So it’s a momentum builder for March.”
The Tigers were led tonight by Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow. Johnson finished as the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, her fourth straight NCAA Tournament game with 20+ points. Morrow notched her 27th double-double of the season and 102nd of her career with her 12 points and 12 rebounds. Sa’Myah Smith also contributed with a line of 10 points and eight rebounds.
“I felt we always made the right plays,” Johnson said. “I think it helped us get in our flow. It helped everybody, it balanced the floor. That’s what we’ve been practicing on.”
In addition to Johnson and Morrow, four other Tigers scored in double figures; Mikaylah Williams with 13 points, Shayeann Day Wilson with a season-high 11 points, Sa’Myah Smith with 10 points and Mjracle Sheppard with 10 points. Smith added 8 rebounds and Williams grabbed 5. Aalyah Del Rosario had a strong game with 9 points and 7 rebounds.
LSU dominated every facet of the game. The Tigers shot a season-high 55.6-percent from beyond the arc. LSU outrebounded SDSU, 53-31. The Tigers forced 19 turnovers for 25 points and only committed 11 turnovers for 2 points. Even with the dominance, LSU went deep into its bench.. Every player on LSU’s roster logged at least three minutes of action and nobody played more than 24 minutes.
“I’m watching a lot of these first-round games where their main players are having to play extended minutes just to win a game,” Coach Mulkey said. “Fortunately for us tonight we didn’t have to do that.”
The Aztecs were led by Jazlen Green and Nat Martinez, who each finished with seven points. SDSU entered the game ranked in the top-20 nationally in bench points, but LSU held the Aztecs to just 18 bench points.
Johnson and Williams nailed LSU’s first two three-point shots as the Tigers got off to a quick start. Morrow got on the scoreboard next and Johnson got a steal in transition as LSU jumped out to an 11-0 start. SDSU called a timeout and got on the board out of the break. When LSU subbed in all three guards and immediately Shayeann Day Wilson drained a three and Mjracle Sheppar slashed to the rim for a layup. The Tigers carried a 27-10 lead into the second quarter.
The Tigers kept things rolling, starting the second quarter on a 9-2 run. By the end of the quarter LSU had Johnson, Morrow and Sheppard in double figures and the Tigers led by 29, 49-20.
Johnson hit her third triple of the game at the start of the third quarter as LSU stayed hot. Jada Richard helped LSU reach 60 points with an and-one and Day-Wilson picked up a block on the defensive end. Then the Tigers forced a shot clock violation as they had everything grooving. LSU led 73-36 heading into the final quarter.
The Tigers closed with a solid fourth quarter showing as Johnson remained hot from outside, sinking her fourth triple of the game. Aalyah Del Rosario scored a couple buckets back-to-back to put LSU over 90. The Tigers continued climbing en route to their 103-48 win.
The Tigers are headed to the Round of 32 💪 pic.twitter.com/mX0qqLwWGB
— LSU Women’s Basketball (@LSUwbkb) March 23, 2025
