Thanks to…well, everyone who took the field in purple and gold, LSU (29-5) advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16 after defeating Texas Tech 101-47.
The 54-point victory was LSU’s largest ever against an AP Top 25 team, according to Todd Politz. The Tigers made a second piece of history as it was the 16th game this season that LSU scored at least 100 points, an NCAA single-season scoring record.
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You could start in about a hundred different places (101 if we’re being precise), but today’s story is Flau’Jae Johnson. The senior and only player remaining from LSU’s 2023 national championship team had his highest-scoring game in the PMAC’s final game: 24 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Johnson’s running mate Mikaylah Williams also matched her score with 24 points and 7 rebounds. The Johnson-Williams combo outscored the entire Texas Tech team.
Texas Tech had no chance Sunday afternoon. Freshman ZaKiyah Johnson made the first shot of the afternoon 19 seconds into the game with the Red Raiders trailing 2-0. The score was 10-0 before Texas Tech came into the game, and LSU ended up leading by 56 points.
Everyone eats for LSU. LSU had nine players on the court, and nine of those players made field goals. Five players including Flau’Jae and Mikaylah scored in double figures. Kate Koval had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, Jada Richard scored 10 points and hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute to help LSU reach the century mark, and Amiya Joyner came off the bench to bring some energy to LSU with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
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The name of the game in March is survive and advance, but absolute dominance works just as well. LSU defeated Tech by 54 points today and opened the tournament with a 116-58 victory over Jacksonville, becoming the fourth team (men and women) to win multiple games by 50 points in the same tournament. The other three times were the UConn women’s national championship-winning teams in 2010, 2015 and 2016.
LSU will now travel to the West to play in the Sweet 16 in Sacramento. LSU will face No. 3 seed Duke in the Sacramento 2 Regional on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT. LSU and Duke met in the SEC/ACC Challenge in December, with LSU defeating the Blue Devils 93-77 inside Cameron Indoor. Hopefully the Tigers can do it again.
