LSU Athletics
BATON ROUGE, La. – South Carolina guards Tessa Johnson and Raven Johnson combined for 40 points and over half their team’s scoring total, lifting the third-ranked Gamecocks to a 79-72 victory over the sixth-ranked LSU women’s basketball team Saturday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
With the loss, LSU fell to 22-4 overall and 8-4 in the Southeastern Conference. With the victory, South Carolina improved to 25-2 overall and 11-1 in league play.
LSU returns to action on Thursday against Ole Miss as the Tigers head to Oxford to take on the Rebels. The contest will be televised on ESPN at 8 p.m. CT with Beth Mowins (pxp), Debbie Antonelli (analyst) and Jess Sims (reporter) on the call. Fans can listen to the LSU Sports Radio Network with Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams calling the action.
As 13,200 fans packed the Maravich Center to watch a prime-time showdown that aired on ABC for the first time in women’s basketball history; they were in for a treat. A tough battle fought by both teams for four quarters, South Carolina was able to pull out the close victory late.
Senior Flau’jae Johnson led the LSU scoring attack with 21 points while recording eight rebounds and one assist. Junior Mikaylah Williams was the Tigers’ only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 11 points on the night.
The energy in the building was palpable for the first quarter of action. LSU ended the period with the 21-16 advantage heading into the second quarter. The Johnson duo of Flau’jae and ZaKiyah both led the Tigers in scoring with six apiece. A back-and-forth quarter through the first seven minutes, LSU started to pull ahead after trailing 14-13 with 3:44 left. LSU closed the quarter scoring six to South Carolina’s two for that lead.
In the second quarter, the Gamecocks outscored the Tigers, 25-19, in the tightly contested game. South Carolina would take the slight 41-40 advantage into the locker room, courtesy of Tessa and Raven who combined for 19 of the visitor’s 25 points.
The Tigers were led by Flau’jae in the first half with 14 points and four rebounds as she went 6-of-10 from the field and drained a single trey and free throw. Williams started off strong in the half, putting up nine points on 4-of-5 shooting with one three-pointer.
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Holding a one-point lead, South Carolina expanded its lead, going on a 9-2 scoring run until the quarter’s media timeout with 5:15 left. LSU began to battle back in the back portion of the quarter. The home team was able to make it a one point, 54-53, deficit on two free throws from sophomore Jada Richard.
The Gamecocks, however, held the 60-55 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Going into the fourth quarter with the five-point lead, the Tigers attempted to scratch and claw their way back into the game down the stretch. Despite the efforts in cutting the game to one point several times, South Carolina was able to pull away late for the 79-72 victory in the top-six matchup.
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