(Photo courtesy of @lsuwbkb on X)
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second time this season No. 7 LSU (26-2, 11-2 SEC) erased a 10+ point second half deficit and the Tigers took down No. 14 Kentucky (21-4, 10-3 SEC) Sunday afternoon in a sold out Memorial Coliseum, 65-58, clinching a double-bye in the SEC Tournament.
“You’ve got kids that are competitors in that locker room,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. We’re having a tremendous year. It’s just that the SEC is so tough. Now we’re done. We’ll celebrate this. We’ll take tomorrow off. And guess what? We got to go on the road and play another ranked team (at Alabama).”
The win marked No. 750 for Mulkey in her head coaching career with a .862 winning percentage.
“I was never going to be a coach,” Mulkey explained. “My degree is in business administration. I was working on my MBA and got talked into doing this by the president of Louisiana Tech (Dr. F Jay Taylor). I guess that man knew more of what I needed to do than I did. It’s a blessing. You don’t win games and championships without great players.”
The Tigers trailed by 12 at halftime, but surged to take the lead with a 13-6 third quarter. Kentucky cut it close in the fourth quarter. LSU held a one point lead and Williams hit her second triple of the afternoon to put the Tigers up by four with 49.1 seconds left. Johnson got a steal on the ensuing defensive possession and LSU took a timeout. The Tigers iced the game with free throws and offensive rebounding. LSU also overcame a double-digit, second half deficit in the Bahamas against Washington.
LSU was led by Mikaylah Williams and Flau’jae Johnson. Williams finished with 24 points and 5 rebounds, while Johnson posted a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Aneesah Morrow also grabbed her 25th double-double of the season and 99th of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore had 16 points and five assists, both below her season averages as Shayeann Day-Wilson did a good job defensively guarding her. Clara Silva also helped the Wildcats with 12 points and eight rebounds.
“I thought her defense, she picked up the two fouls quickly, but then her defense was really good,” Coach Mulkey said of Day-Wilson’s defense on Amoore. “She focused and listened to little things that I wanted her to do; deny the ball back to her once she gives it up in the half court, pressure her in the full court so that, yeah, at least worrying her that maybe she’ll miss a three because she’s just a little bit winded or fatigued.”
The Tigers will face their final road test of the regular season on Thursday at Alabama against a ranked Alabama squad. It will begin at 8 p.m. CT on either the SEC Network or ESPN.
LSU missed its first six shots and fell down 6-0. Shayeann Day-Wilson got LSU on the board with a pullup.Gilbert found Morrow with a lob over the top to tie that game at 10 with under three minutes left in the quarter. With both teams opening the game cold shooting the ball, the first quarter ended with Kentucky holding a 14-12 lead.
The Wildcats started the second quarter on a 14-2 run to go up 28-14. Johnson ended the run on a pullup in transition, her first made basket of the game. That only ended the run momentarily as Kentucky continued to outpace LSU throughout the quarter. Morrow scored a layup at the buzzer, but the Wildcats carried a 38-26 lead into halftime.
LSU came out of the break looking to close the gap, starting the third on a 10-3 run through the first five minutes to get within five of Kentucky. Johnson made a pair of free throws out of the media timeout and Williams scored off an inbounds play to bring it within one. Johnson hit a triple on the next possession to give LSU its first lead of the afternoon as Kentucky took a timeout. LSU surged in the third quarter, outsourcing Kentucky by 17, to take a 49-44 lead into the final quarter.
The Tigers were cold to start the fourth and Kentucky went on a 8-2 run to take a brief lead, but LSU answered with four straight points to get the lead back by one. The teams traded the lead back and forth with neither squad creating any separation in the fourth quarter. With one minute left, LSU held a one point lead and Williams hit her second triple of the afternoon to put the Tigers up by four with 49.1 seconds left. Johnson got a steal on the ensuing defensive possession and LSU closed the game out at the foul line.
**LSU Press Release**
