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AUBURN, Ala. – Freshman ZaKiyah Johnson paced the fifth-ranked LSU women’s basketball team with 16 points lifting the Tigers to a 77-44 victory over the Auburn Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Neville Arena and getting back in the win column.
With the victory, LSU secured another win in the Southeastern Conference, improving its record to 22-3 overall and 8-3 in the SEC. With the loss, Auburn dropped to 13-12 on the season and 2-9 in league play.
LSU returns to action on Saturday when it takes on South Carolina for a 7:30 p.m. CT start inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Valentine’s Day. The contest will be televised nationally on ABC with Ryan Ruocco (pxp), Rebecca Lobo (analyst) and Holly Rowe (reporter) calling the action. February 14 marks the first time a women’s basketball game has aired in the Saturday primetime spot on ABC.
ESPN’s College Gameday will be in town as the show will air live on ABC starting at 7 p.m. CT and is also available on the ESPN App, leading into the tip between both squads at 7:40 p.m. This will be the second time the Tigers have hosted Gameday, with the last time coming in 2024 against South Carolina.
ZaKiyah, in addition to her 16 points, had eight rebounds and one block. She finished 5-of-9 from the field and converted 6-of-7 free throw attempts after drawing five fouls and not committing any personal fouls. Joining ZaKiyah in double figures were seniors Flau’jae Johnson (10) and Amiya Joyner (10) and junior Mikaylah Williams (12).
Joyner tallied 10 rebounds on top of her 10 points, collecting the 49th double-double of her career and her eighth of the season.
LSU’s defense held the Auburn offense to 25% shooting from the field (15-60) and just 14.3% from behind the arc (3-21).
LSU jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter by the media timeout with 4:59 remaining in the period. Williams knocked down two free throws to open the scoring for the Tigers. Williams also drained a three-pointer in addition to ZaKiyah four points at the first timeout. The offenses staggered in the second five minutes, as LSU outscored Auburn, 5-4, to close out the quarter with a 16-6 advantage.
In the second quarter, LSU’s defense continued to stymie Auburn’s offense while extending the Tiger lead. At the 4:40 mark of the second period, LSU led 25-10 as it received scoring from five different Tigers through the first six minutes. Down the stretch of the first half, LSU put its foot on the pedal, going on an 11-2 scoring run that gave the Tigers a 36-13 lead at the break.
Williams paced the visiting Tigers scoring attack at the half with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. ZaKiyah and Flau’jae were both close to double figures with eight and seven, respectively. Auburn’s 13 first half points is the fewest by an LSU SEC opponent this year through the first 20 minutes.
ZaKiyah’s prolific scoring continued in the opening five minutes of the third quarter as the freshman had six of LSU’s 11 points at the media timeout. The Tigers were able to keep their offensive output up, outscoring the home Tigers, 25-15 in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the LSU bench players got the bulk of the minutes as both teams put up 16 points in the period. LSU came away from Neville Arena with the 77-44 victory.
**LSU Press Release
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