LSU Athletic Communications
For Immediate Release – January 25, 2024
BATON ROUGE — No. 9 LSU (18-3, 5-2 SEC) led No. 1 South Carolina (18-0, 6-0) through the first three quarters in front of a sold out PMAC with 13,215 in attendance, but ultimately the Gamecocks prevailed, 76-70, in one of the most anticipated games of the year across the country.
LSU led by as many as 11 in the first quarter, but slowly chipped away. The Gamecocks hit last-second threes in both the first and second quarters, including a 6-0 run to close the second to narrow LSU’s lead to five at the half. Through the second half it was neck-and-neck as the teams went back and forth, but Angel Reese, battling foul trouble, fouled out with just over four minutes remaining. A corner three by Bree Hall with the game tied at 67 ultimately gave the undefeated Gamecocks a lead they would not surrender. It snapped LSU’s 29-game home winning streak.
“That was a good basketball game,” said Coach Kim Mulkey. “There’s a lot of talent on both sides. A possession here, maybe we would have won it. A possession there, maybe we would have won it. They made the plays to win it.”
Aneesah Morrow led all scorers with 16 points and 10 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season. Morrow added 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 big blocks. Reese finished the night with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.
All other starters finished in double figures once again. Hailey Van Lith had 13 points with a pair of threes, Mikaylah Williams scored 12 with 6 assists, and Flau’Jae Johnson finished with 10 points.
All five South Carolina starters also reached double figures. Chloe Kitts led the way with 14 points on 6-9 from the field. Raven Johnson followed with 13 points and was just one board shy of a double-double. Others to reach the mark were Te-Hina Paopao (12), Cardoso (11), and Bree Hall (10).
LSU took a four point lead into a final quarter that saw 5 lead changes and 4 ties. After a tie game with 1:42 remaining, South Carolina held off the Tigers late efforts and went on a 6-0 run to close out the night. The Tigers largest lead came in the second quarter as LSU went up by 11 before taking a four point lead into halftime.
South Carolina finished the night 48-percent on 31-65 from the field compared to LSU’s 45-percent on 30-67. The Gamecocks connected on one more three-pointer than the Tigers as they hit 7-20 attempts. LSU was 6-18 from beyond the arc. LSU made just 4 points from the foul line, but only had 9 attempts from the charity stripe. That is 21.05 attempts less than the season average of free throw attempts per game. Both teams gave up 12 turnovers.
The Tigers will be back in action on Monday night as they travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi Sttate for a 6 p.m. CT tip-off on ESPN2. The Tigers will then have the Thursday off before hosting Florida on Sunday, February 4.