The LSU Tigers came into Friday Night looking to kick off what they hope will be a long postseason run as they faced off against the red hot Florida Gators. In the lead up to this game Kim Mulkey was away from the team as she arrived in Greensville for the game after an unexpected death in the family.
The Lady Tigers were coached by Bob Starkey this week and the team showed his identity coming out with a dominant defensive start. As Flau'Jae Johnson was out of the lineup, everyone was looking to see how LSU would start and Aneesah Morrow calmed any nerves by scoring 10 points in the first quarter while grabbing five rebounds.
LSU was then able to stretch its ten point first quarter lead into a 19 point lead heading into the half as both offenses started to find a rhythm. The second quarter saw Aneesah Morrow continue her dominance but, most important was LSU being able to get Mikaylah Williams going.
Coming out of the half, LSU started slow offensively which got Florida back into this game but, LSU's bench stepped up in a big way while Aneesah Morrow impacted the game at every level, dominating despite being double teamed.
The fourth quarter was the Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams show and Aalyah Del Rosario's presence on the court allowed Morrow to face less double teams inside. While Florida was able to cut into LSU's lead with three pointers, the Tigers' offense never let Florida truly make it a game.
Aneesah Morrow was an absolute force for the Tigers and could've won this game single handedly if the team needed her to. Despite facing double teams on offense and on the boards Morrow scored 36 points for the Tigers while grabbing 14 rebounds. Mikaylah Williams did a great job taking charge of LSU's offense and while her 16 points were great, Tigers' fans should be more impressed with her 8 assists as she ran the offense perfectly.
Mjracle Sheppard's role is only growing ahead of March as she gave the Tigers offense 12 points while knocking down 2 of 3 three-point attempts.
Whether it was Bob Starkey's idea or Kim Mulkey's idea the Tigers went with a smart approach with the NCAA Tournament around the corner playing a vast majority of LSU's bench pieces. Shayeann Day-Wilson came off of the bench in this game and was impressive running the second unit, scoring 7 points. Aalyah Del Rosario, Jersey Wolfenbarger, and Kailyn Gilbert all made massive contributions which makes them candidates for more playing time.
LSU's offense as a hole was impressive scoring over 100 points for the fourth time this season an impressive mark in tournament play.
The Lady Tigers will face off against the Texas Longhorns Saturday Night at 6:00 PM Central Time.