After an explosive 101-87 quarterfinals win over the Florida Gators on Friday, the LSU Tigers took on the Texas Longhorns in the semifinals of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. It was the complete opposite of Friday night’s contest as both teams struggled to score from all three levels. LSU was within range all game but couldn’t get it done as they were eliminated from the tournament in a 56-49 loss to Texas.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
It was a tight-knit, low-scoring first half of the final Saturday contest in Greenville, South Carolina. Mjracle Sheppard helped LSU jump to a 4-0 lead 33 seconds into the game as she tipped in Sa’Myah Smith’s miss and knocked down a pair of free throws.
Texas responded with a 10-2 run that began with an and-one putback by Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda. Madison Booker then hit back-to-back shots, including a three-pointer, and Taylor Jones made both free throw attempts to give the Longhorns the 10-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Sheppard had the lone two points for the Tigers during the run.
Barely any shots were made in the last five minutes of the opening quarter as each team scored three points. Mikaylah Williams found Annesah Morrow for a layup, and Kailyn Gilbert made her second of two shots from the charity stripe, but LSU was down 13-11 after 10 minutes of action.
It didn’t get any easier for the Tigers offensively in the second quarter as they made just two shots as a team through the first 5:18 of the period. Morrow and Williams were the two who hit their shots while the Longhorns were outscoring them at that point 7-5.
Booker scored the majority of Texas’s points in the second, being responsible for 11 of the team’s 16 points as she scored twice from downtown and hit a couple of midrange jump shots.
Morrow scored three more times before the end of the quarter, all from inside the arc, to keep the Tigers within reach. Her final made shot of the half was a layup with 12 seconds to go. That shot was answered by Jones, who scored with about two seconds to go. That put LSU behind 29-23 heading into the locker room.
The game remained a back-and-forth slugfest coming out of the half. Willaism scored the first points of the third quarter and followed that up by fouling Booker as she rose up and hit a midrange shot. That shot turned into a three-point possession for Texas to take their largest lead of the game. Part of the reason for the continued scoring struggles from the Bayou Bengals was that Morrow exited the game less than three minutes into the second half.
The Tigers cut into the deficit and made it a one-point difference at the halfway point of the quarter. Williams got into more of a rhythm as she hit a deep two, and Smith scored in the paint before Williams secured her missed shot and knocked down the mini fadeaway. LSU was down 32-31 with 4:55 to go in the third.
Last-Tear Poa scored the final three points of the quarter for Kim Mulkey’s group with a set of free throws. Booker continued to hit shots as Jordan Lee fed her the ball on back-to-back possessions. Rori Harmon closed out the quarter, putting the Longhorns ahead 40-34 with a pair of free throws.
Texas extended their lead in the back half of the fourth as they went on an 8-3 run. Rori Harmon, who hadn’t made a shot to that point, knocked down her next three attempts, all from around the free throw line. Lee sprinkled in another midrange jumper to take their largest lead of the game. The lone score for LSU during the run was a corner three by Gilbert, the team’s first.
The Tigers scored six of the next eight points to make it a four-point game with 45 seconds left. Sheppard, Williams, and Smith all scored for LSU, while Jones rebounded her miss and put it back up after getting blocked by Smith.
LSU played the foul game to gain extra possession. Jada Richard knocked down a contest wing three, but Texas made nearly all of their free throws down the stretch. By the time the final buzzer went off, the Longhorns were ahead by multiple possessions and defeated the Tigers 56-49, eliminating the Bayou Bengals from the tournament.
BIG NUMBER: 49
The LSU Tigers struggled offensively all night long on Saturday, shooting under 34% as a team on 56 attempts. Their 49 points scored is a season-low for them; the previous low was 56 against the South Carolina Gamecocks back on January 24th
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Madison Booker
Booker couldn’t miss early on for Texas and finished the game with 25 points on 10-19 shooting and was 3-6 from behind the arc. The sophomore forward also recorded six rebounds and made a crucial block late in the game to secure the 56-49 loss for the Tigers.
UP NEXT: The LSU Tigers women’s basketball team will wait for Selection Sunday to see what seed they’ll be and who they’ll play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.