LSU had gotten off to another fast start Tuesday, scoring the game’s first 11 points when McNeese ended a five-minute stretch without a point.
The Lady Tigers’ first substitution was Florida transfer Laila Reynolds, followed 1 ½ minutes later by Noa Morro, a 6-foot-3 senior transfer from Mallorca, Spain.
Morro brought both size and experience from her time playing in a couple of Spanish women’s professional basketball leagues, before leaving her home country to sign with LSU where she’s been sidelined by a stress fracture in her leg.
Morro was limited in practice, missed both of the team’s exhibition games and the first two games of this season, before taking over for Grace Knox with LSU already in firm control of McNeese. She was limited by the team’s trainer to three minutes a quarter, head coach Kim Mulkey said afterward, allowing her time to get her game back up to speed for the first time in six months.
That took place during a four-minute stretch of the second quarter when Morro buried a pair of 3-pointers and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line for nine points. The Lady Tigers took a 48-26 halftime lead in a game they won, 100-43, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
“I was really excited and so happy to be back, and I prepared with the staff,” Morro said. “They helped me a lot and my teammates, I’m surrounded by people so talented and good people, so that helps me a lot.”
Morro finished with 12 points in 13 minutes, making 3-of-5 shots (all 3s) to go with four rebounds, one assist and a turnover.
“To see the crowd kind of cheer her on,” LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley said of the highlights of seeing Morro praised for her play. “(To) See what we’ve been seeing for these couple of months is great. It’s a great feeling for her because I was excited for her.”
Morro was one of six players that scored in double figures with a game-ending 3-pointer from Mikaylah Williams giving the team their third-straight 100-point game.
ZaKiya Johnson had 10 of her 14 points in the first half, Fulwiley added 13, Lola Lampley 11 and Anna Minaeva 10.
“I asked her if she was a bit nervous and she said yes,” Mulkey said of Morro. “But when you hit a couple of threes, it’s kind of like riding a bike. You’re always going to know how to do it and she makes us better. Now, she’s not back, back. We’re going to be smart with it.”
Fitting key role
With the unexpected departure of 6-5 center Kate Koval to Baylor, the Morro’s signing was prudent on several levels.
Not only did Morro offer vast experience from playing in several Spanish women’s professional leagues, she provided a unique skill set that a player at size could stretch defenses with her perimeter shooting and also help the Lady Tigers inside on the boards.
Morro said she needed a variation in her basketball life and opted to travel more than 5,000 miles – or a 10-hour, 43-minute plane flight – from her hometown to Baton Rouge.
“I wanted a change in my life, like something challenging for me and I thought this was the best option,” she said. “Coming to LSU, they have great history and they have a winning mentality. I thought that was my place.”
A year ago, Morro signed with Kutxabank Araski of the Spanish professional league and averaged 8.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
She also made 36.5% of her 3-point shots (27 of 54) in her most recent action before being sidelined in this fall.
“I’ve always been a shooter,” said Morro, who played on the same professional team when she was 16 with her mother who played center. “I don’t know when I started to put this (3-point shooting) on my game.”
Catching fire
Morro, who also spent time in Spain playing with Valencia Basket, heated up in the second quarter with LSU holding a 37-20 lead.
She entered the game with less than five minutes before halftime and after an earlier miss from behind the arc, drained her second attempt from the wing for a 40-20 advantage.
Morro made her second 3-pointer two minutes later and made three of four free throws to extend her team’s lead to 50-23 in the final minute of the second quarter.
“She’s a great shooter,” Fulwiley said. “Playing with a big that can shoot, that makes it easier for us guards because they’re going to have to guard both. They’re going to have to guard her on her pop or they’re going to have guard us on the drive.
“Playing with her, it’s kind of a dream come true for guards when you have a big that can shoot a three as good as she can,” Fulwiley said. “It kind of makes you more confident in whatever move you’re about to make. I’m excited to see what Noa does and I’m proud of her for her debut.”
Morro added two rebounds in two minutes in a scoreless third quarter when she added her final 3-pointer with just over seven minutes remaining in the game for an 86-37 lead.
“When you’re a shooter you’ve got to get in the flow and she missed that first one and I thought that wasn’t going to stop her,” Mulkey said. “That’s what she does. She shoots it effortlessly and that size, it’s good to have her back out there.”
