Flau’jae Johnson scores 17 to lead No. 7 LSU over SE Louisiana 73-50

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Mulkey celebrates LSU win, talks areas of improvement

Following the 73-50 win over SE Louisiana, Kim Mulkey praises the home crowd and explains why the No. 7 Tigers need to step up on the defensive end.

Updated: Nov 18, 2023, 03:56 am

HAMMOND, La. -- — Sophomore Flau’jae Johnson scored 17 points and 11 rebounds and junior Annesah Morrow added 10 points and 11 rebounds as No. 7 LSU raced past SE Louisiana 73-50 on Friday night in their first game of the season without All-America forward Angel Reese.

Kennedy Paul and Hailey Giaratano led SE Louisiana with 12 points each.

Reese, who had an NCAA record 34 double-doubles and led LSU to its first national championship, was not with the Tigers for their 47-mile road trip. She had started 40 straight games for LSU since transferring from Maryland after the 2021-22 season.

“Angel (Reese) was not in uniform tonight,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “Angel is a part of our basketball team and we hope to see her sooner than later.”

Mulkey offered no further explanation and didn’t take any additional questions about Reese. No LSU players were made available for postgame interviews.

Though Reese averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds in LSU’s first four games this season, she played lethargically.

Reese was yanked from the floor after the first three minutes of LSU’s 109-79 win over Kent State on Tuesday after shooting an ill-advised 3-pointer. She didn’t play in the second half and finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds, playing just over 13 minutes.

Even without Reese, LSU (4-1) had enough firepower to handle the Lady Lions (2-2) in Mulkey’s homecoming game in SE Louisiana's sold-out 7,500-seat arena.

The 61-year-old Mulkey, who was raised 10 minutes from the SE Louisiana arena and led Hammond High to four straight titles as an all-state point guard from 1977-80, anticipated Friday’s rematch of LSU’s 63-55 win last season in Baton Rouge over the Lady Lions would be a challenge.

But thanks to Johnson, normally a starter who has come off the bench the last two games after missing a game with the flu, the Tigers never trailed SE Louisiana.

“She’s come off the bench like a superstar,” Mulkey said of Johnson, who also had four steals and three assists. “She was the spark against Kent State and she was our spark tonight."

BIG PICTURE

LSU: Friday was the third time Mulkey walked out of SE Louisiana’s University Center a winner. As a Louisiana Tech senior point guard, she led the Lady Techsters to an 88-45 victory in January 1984. Then, Mulkey was in her third season as Baylor’s head coach in 2002-2003 when her Lady Bears beat the Lady Lions 70-55 in a November 2002 matchup.

SE Louisiana: The Lady Lions are without senior guard Alexis Horne until Southland Conference play starts in January. Horne, a Baton Rouge native who scored a career-high 28 points in last year’s loss at LSU, is still recovering from a torn ACL she sustained in the SLC tournament in March.

UP NEXT

LSU: The Tigers host Texas Southern on Monday.

SE Louisiana: The Lady Lions host Jackson State on Monday.

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