LSU clinches 2-seed in SEC tourney with win over UGA

ATHENS, Ga. – All five starters reached double figures for No. 9 LSU (25-4, 12-3 SEC) on Thursday night as the Tigers ran away from Georgia (12-16, 3-12 SEC), 80-54. The crowd of 7,406 inside Stegeman Coliseum was the largest for a women’s basketball game at Georgia since 2012.

With the win on Thursday night, LSU locked the No. 2 seed in the SEC for the third year in a row and the Tigers will play next Friday in Greenville, South Carolina at 5 p.m. CT.

Angel Reese finished the night with a double-double after scoring 17 points and hauling in 15 rebounds. She now has 19 double-doubles on the season. Aneesah Morrow recorded her 17th double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Morrow added a new season high of 5 assists.

“I never take that for granted,” Coach Kim Mulkey said of having two players who consistently get double-doubles. “I always tell our coaches, we see those kids everyday and we see what they do in games- we can’t take it for granted. What they do in getting double-doubles, Angel and Morrow, that doesn’t just happen. Those rebounds don’t just fall in their lap. Those points don’t just happen, They work in there.”

Hailey Van Lith led all scorers with 18 points that featured 4 made three-pointers and a perfect 4-4 from the foul line. Flau’Jae Johnson finished with 14 points as she played in her home state of Georgia for the first time as a Tiger. Mikaylah Williams rounded out the starting five that reached double digits with 11 points.

Javyn Nicholson led the Bulldogs with 17 points on 7-13 from the field and 5 rebounds. Asia Avinger added 10 points with a pair of three pointers. No other Bulldogs reached double figures.

The Tigers went 32-71 from the field for 45-percent compared to Georgia’s 21-58 and 36-percent from the field. LSU only allowed 9 turnovers while forcing 16 and scoring 20 points off those turnovers. LSU won the rebounding battle 43-25 and outscored the Bulldogs in the paint by 30, 38-8.

LSU is slated to return home for a match up against Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT inside the PMAC on the SEC Network. It will be the final contest before the conference tournament that will begin on March 8th in Greenville, SC.

Morrow scored the first six of LSU’s points as the Tigers took a 8-5 lead before the opening timeout. Morrow was 3-3 from the field in the first three minutes of action. After the timeout, Morrow added a couple more and Williams knocked down a triple to force Georgia to call its first 30-second timeout. Avinger made a pair of threes to lead the Bulldogs on a 8-2 run that cut the LSU lead to two. The Tigers extended their lead to 9 before the end of the quarter as Van Lith connected on a three-point buzzer beater, her third straight game with a last-second shot to end a quarter.

After a quick bucket from Georgia, LSU went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-point advantage 4 minutes into the second quarter. Morrow reached double figures with 3:30 minutes to play in the first half. Williams split two defenders in transition to find Reese downcourt for an easy lay that gave the Tigers their first 20 point lead of the night. LSU took a 45-23 lead into the break after the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 21-8 in the second quarter. Both Reese and Morrow finished the half with 12 points each while the pair combined for 12 of the team’s 22 rebounds.

LSU scored 24 points in the first half to outscore Georgia’s total points of 23. The Tigers were dominant on the glass with 9 more boards than their opponent, 22-13. Just one Bulldog scored more than six points while LSU had all five starters with 6 points or more in the first half.

The Tigers opened the third on a 7-0 run to move its margin to 29 before the media break just under three minutes into the action. Savannah Henderson broke the field goal drought for Georgia with a triple to move back within 30. Late in the quarter LSU was unable to score for the final 3:30, while UGA scored 14 unanswered points to make it a 15-point LSU lead heading to the fourth.

Morrow ended the 16-0 Georgia run with a second chance putback to put the Tigers back up by 15 with over 8 minutes remaining in regulation. LSU built off the much needed bucket to produce a 9-0 run and hold the Bulldogs scoreless for over 4 minutes. The Tigers held a 73-48 lead at the final media timeout. LSU rode it lead and cruised to its 7th consecutive win, 80-54.