LSU women’s hoops caps off regular season with 74-59 win

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

Sunday evening marked a positive ending to LSU women’s basketball’s regular season.

The Tigers pulled off a 74-59 win over Mississippi State on senior night, a win that put LSU at 27-1, matching the program’s best regular season record.

During the senior night ceremony, Alexis Morris, LaDazhia Williams, Jasmine Carson and Emily Ward were all honored at center court at halftime. In addition, Sunday’s game held the largest crowd in PMAC history of 15,721, breaking a record set earlier this season.

“I was emotional for all four of them, before the game and after the game,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “Because they will never play another regular season last game in their home arena.”

The win was led by the Tigers’ two post players in Angel Reese and LaDazhia Williams. Reese secured her 27th double-double of the season with 23 points and 26 rebounds. With that double-double, she tied Sylvia Fowles’ record for most double-doubles in a season. But Williams was her “partner in crime” in Sunday’s game, finishing with 16 points and four rebounds.

“I think it’s just me being aggressive and knowing that I can score also,” Williams said. “Just playing my role and doing whatever my team needs me to do.”

With the team’s veteran player, Alexis Morris, being honored during senior night, it was fitting that she’d make her mark in the game. The fifth-year senior scored 23 points along with five rebounds.

“Thank you to coach Mulkey for giving me the opportunity to receive this day,” Morris said. “I’m just thankful to see and celebrate this moment with people who have known me since I was a kid.”

For Mississippi State, Jerkaila Jordan led the Bulldogs with 16 points along with four rebounds and two assists. She also shot five for six from the foul line. Jessika Carter added 10 points and six points.

“We just played, in my opinion, the hottest team in the SEC,” Mulkey said. “Those guys take you off the dribble as good as anybody. They played South Carolina to within eight. They had beaten a lot of teams as of late. They’re playing good.”

The end of the regular season means one thing: the much-anticipated postseason for LSU is ahead.

Mulkey and her team learned a lot about themselves as of late, especially since their loss to South Carolina. Reese is a player the team can always depend on, and Morris’ experience will be something the team uses to their advantage, but other pieces have been filling in as well.

As seen on Sunday, Williams can be a threat to partner with Reese. For a team that doesn’t have many post players, Reese and Williams have shown on multiple occasions that they can work together well and still dominate in the paint.

Carson has also displayed her great shooting ability. She scored a career-high 25 points with seven made three-pointers against Florida last Sunday and 20 points with four made threes in late January against Alabama.

The three-point shot wasn’t hitting for her against Mississippi State, but Carson has shown that once she finds her shot, it’s hard for her to lose it.

Flau’jae Johnson has also shown her growth in maturity as conference play has gone on. This was most evident against Tennessee when she locked down Jordan Horston, who is a projected top-10 WNBA Draft pick.

She held her to just 11 points. Kateri Poole, Last-Tear Poa and Sa’Myah Smith have also become reliable players off the bench that LSU can rely on in the long run.

LSU has proved itself as the regular season comes to an end. With one of the best regular season records in program history, the Tigers have a lot to be confident about. They’ve had bumps in the road, but they’re now in the spot they expected to be in as the SEC Tournament is upon them.

SHUTOUT, from page 9 three-run home run over the left field wall for LSU’s only runs of the game.

“That was awesome, a great at-bat by Gavin,” said LSU head coach Jay Johnson. “To win games like this against a good team in an environment like this, your dudes have to be dudes,

SWEEP, from page 9 ing quick work of his opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. No. 30 ranked Hohmann completed his singles match in straight sets as well, winning 6-3, 6-3.

Julien Penzlin brought the overall score to 4-0 for the Tigers as he won his match 6-3, 6-3, which would be the last full match of the meeting between LSU and Louisiana-Lafayette. The remaining three singles matches all went unfinished, giving LSU the win with a 4-0 score.

Following the win against Louisiana-Lafayette, LSU took on the University of New Orleans Privateers. In the first match, Latinovic and Watson completed their second 6-0 victory of the day.

Dong and Hotard followed with a win of their own, securing the doubles point with a 6-3 win. Hohmann and Penzlin paired up for the last doubles and he was in that moment. Gavin is tough-minded; he had some setbacks last year and going into this year, but he got himself ready to play, and he’s playing better now than he ever has. All credit to him for his determination.”

The pitch was intended for him to hit into a double play because Texas did not want LSU’s match that unfortunately went unfinished. most consistent hitter, Crews, to have a chance to win the game as he was up to bat next.

The Tigers led 1-0 going into singles play as Benjamin Ambrosio took the first singles win in straight sets 6-3, 6-0.

Dong followed Ambrosio with a straight set win of his own, completing his match 6-0, 6-3. Hotard improved LSU’s overall score to 4-0 after a 6-3, 6-4 finish.

After Hotard’s match, the rest of the singles play went unfinished, with Hohmann, Latinovic, and Penzlin all having unfinished matches.

With the two wins over Louisiana-Lafayette and New Orleans, the Tigers improved to 8-1, as well as bumping LSU up to No. 34 in the ITA College rankings as of Feb. 28.

On Thursday, the Tigers will look to improve that ranking as they begin SEC play in College Station and take on Texas A&M on Thursday.

LSU called on Vanderbilt transfer Christian Little to close out the final half inning and ensure they left Austin with a 3-0 victory. Little retired the side in order, putting a cap on dramatic win for LSU.

“This was a great experience for our team,” Johnson said. “Going into SEC play in a couple of weeks, we’re going to see the same environments we saw tonight. It won’t be new to us the next time we play on the road in front of a big crowd in a great atmosphere. The players were energized throughout the game, and it was a blast.”

This game is only the 10th time since 1933 that LSU has played in a scoreless game through the first eight innings.

LSU’s record in such games is 7-2-1.

LSU baseball will return home to Baton Rouge and be back in action on Friday at 6:30 p.m. when it begins a four-game weekend against Butler and Central Connecticut State.