BATON ROUGE — In a rematch of last year’s Final Four semifinal in Dallas, No. 7 ranked LSU overcame a sluggish start Thursday night to take down No. 9 Virginia Tech 82-64 inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The victory was the 700th victory of Kim Mulkey’s Hall of Fame career.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Virginia Tech jumped out to a 6-1 lead before LSU got its first bucket, which was a jumper by Aneesha Morrow. The Tigers clawed back and cut the lead down to 8-6 after a layup by Angel Reese.
The Hokies answered with a jumper by Georiga Amoore and then a layup by Matilda Ekh. Tiger freshman Mikayla Williams answered with a layup but moments later Amoore drained a three-pointer. With 4:09 left in the first, Va. Tech held a 15-8 lead.
The Hokies led by as many as nine as the Tigers struggled with finding their shots. LSU shot 26 percent in the first quarter and had seven turnovers. At the end of the first, Va. Tech held a 20-13 lead.
LSU opened up the second quarter on a 7-0 run to tie the game but then Va. Tech’s Carleigh Wenzel hit a three-pointer to retake the lead. The Tigers answered with a three by Flau’jae Johnson.
The Tigers closed out the half on an 8-2 run as the Hokies didn’t make a field goal in the final 4:50 of the second quarter. At the break, LSU led 35-29.
LSU pushed its lead to 10 points with buckets by Reese and Williams but the Tigers were just getting started. A few minutes later, the lead ballooned to 14 after Hailey Van Lith hit a three-pointer and then a layup by Williams. With 5:43 left in the third, LSU led 51-37.
The Tigers maintained their double-digit advantage and held a 61-48 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Virginia Tech managed to cut the lead down to 13 points in the final quarter but LSU kept its foot on the gas and quickly pushed the lead back up to as much as 22, before closing out the 18-point victory.
BIG NUMBER: 700
With Thursday’s win, Kim Mulkey won her 700th game in her career and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer also made history in the process. Mulkey needed only 812 games to reach the milestone, which is the fastest of any coach in either women’s or men’s college basketball history. Kentucky men’s coach Adolph Rupp hit the mark in 836 games, while UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma did so in 822 games.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: ANEESAH MORROW & MIKAYLAH WILLIAMS
Morrow recorded a double-double as she scored 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting and pulled down 15 rebounds, including 12 on defense. Williams meanwhile led the Tigers with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting with six rebounds and five assists.
UP NEXT: LSU (8-1) will return to action on Sunday, December 10th when it hosts the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at the PMAC. Tip is set for 2 p.m. and the game can be heard on Mustang 107.1 FM.