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The LSU Tigers welcomed new SEC member Oklahoma to the PMAC for a Thursday night primetime battle. The game was chippy early on before the Tigers took a 25-point lead in the third. However, the Sooners made a big run down the stretch to cut it to one point late, but 37 points from Mikaylah Williams, including a clutch three, would seal a 107-100 victory for the Purple and Gold.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Oklahoma jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening minute of this top-15 contest before LSU was able to go on a quick run to answer to tie it up. With under five minutes to go in the quarter, a battle for position in the lane led to pushing and shoving between Sa’Myah Smith and Beatrice Culliton but Liz Scott came in defense of Culliton and shoved Smith, leading to both players being ejected.
The back-and-forth affair in the score column continued in the first quarter, and it came to an end with a 23-20 lead for the Sooners inside Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Payton Verhulst led the way with 10 points.
LSU opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run to take a 30-25 lead at the 7:19 mark of the frame after big shots from Mikaylah Williams and Flaujae Johnson sparked the run. Oklahoma cut it to one with 6:18 left in the first half, but a technical foul was called on Oklahoma’s head coach, Jennie Baranczyk, for chasing an official down the sideline looking for an explanation. LSU turned that tech inside four straight points to take a 35-30 lead.
After the Sooners cut the lead to 3, LSU exploded for five more points to take a 43-35 lead with under three to go in the first half. With less than a minute and LSU leading 46-41, Williams drove to the basket and got an and-one bucket to put her at 17 points in the first half and the Tigers ahead 49-41. Williams then connected on a corner three to make it 52-41, but Oklahoma drew a foul at the other end with three seconds left in the half. OU connected on one of the two shots and LSU had a 52-42 lead at the half. Williams led the way with 20 points for the Tigers while Verhulst had 17 for the Sooners.
LSU continued their success at the end of the first half into the third quarter, outscoring the Sooners 11-2 in the first 3 minutes to hold a 63-44 lead with 6:35 remaining. The scoring continued to come in a big way for the Bayou Bengals as it was a 72-48 score with 4:01 left in the third quarter as Aneesah Morrow had seven of the Tigers’ 20 points in the first six minutes of the quarter.
Oklahoma was able to cut the lead to 15 at the end of the third quarter with an 83-68 score. The Sooners continued to fight back into the contest, cutting the lead to just seven with 5:52 remaining in the game.
Oklahoma continued to have a dominant final quarter outscoring LSU 32-14 in the final frame to make 101-100 with 54.5 left in the game. Velhurst was the driving force for the Sooners with 26 points, including a clutch three-pointer to make it a one-point game. However, the night would belong to Williams, who connected on her seventh three-pointer of the night. On the ensuing possession, Oklahoma rushed and turned it over as Johnson hit the layup on the other end to seal it in a 107-100 final
BIG NUMBER: 83
LSU’s big three of Williams, Morrow, and Johnson combined for 83 of LSU’s 106 points in the win as Williams led the way with 37.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mikaylah Williams
Williams was electric at home tonight, scoring 37 on 12-20 shooting including 7-10 from downtown.
UP NEXT: LSU will host Mississippi State inside the PMAC on Sunday for an SEC contest. Tip off is set for 2:00 p.m. and can be heard on Acadiana’s Classic Country Mustang 107.1