Morrow, Reese lead No. 7 LSU to 92-72 win over Missouri

BATON ROUGE, La. -- — Aneesah Morrow had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Angel Reese added 21 points and 13 boards, and No. 7 LSU pulled away in the second half for a 92-72 win over Missouri on Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Flau'jae Johnson scored 24 points for LSU (14-1), which won its 14th straight game.

“I thought the intensity was there,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “The will was there, but fatigue set in early. That’s not unexpected. When you start conference play, everybody’s just really hyped and excited.”

Hayley Frank led Missouri (9-5) with 22 points.

LSU led 39-32 at halftime and missed its first six 3-pointers of the game. But the host Tigers made three 3s during a 32-17 third quarter that gave them a 22-point advantage entering the fourth.

“It was just getting a feel for the game,” Johnson said. “At halftime, I was like ‘OK, they showed us what they got. Are we going to kept getting beat by the same thing? Or are we going to start talking and communicating?’ When we do that, it’s five dogs on the floor all the time.”

The first half featured a contrast in offensive styles. LSU scored 26 of its first-half points in the paint, with guards Hailey Van Lith and Mikaylah Williams feeding Morrow and Reese in the low post.

Missouri, meanwhile, hit five 3s in the first half while playing physical defense.

A brilliant defensive play by Johnson — she ran down Missouri’s Grace Slaughter to block a breakaway layup that would have given Mizzou a five-point lead — led to a three-point play by Reese that started a 15-5 run in the final 6:11 of the half.

“I felt that (Johnson’s block) was the momentum boost for our team,” Morrow said.

The visiting Tigers knocked Morrow down three times in the first three minutes and contested inside shots by Reese, who missed seven layups on the night.

LSU's second-half surge was nothing new. Mulkey’s squad entered the game outscoring the opposition by an average of 13 points in the third quarter.

“We really battled and matched them in some stretches,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “But there were some stretches in the third quarter that really hurt us. LSU sped us up. They came out in the first five minutes after halftime and took it to another level.”

Mulkey said her team’s success in league play will be built on defense.

“We scored 92 points tonight and we weren’t on fire,” Mulkey said. “We can score points. We’ve just got to get better defensively.”

BE LIKE KIM

The LSU promotions department staged a Mulkey lookalike contest at halftime, with the winner receiving one of the flamboyant coach's game-worn sequined jackets.

“I’m not in charge of marketing,” Mulkey said. “If I would have known I probably would have said no, we’re not doing that, do something for the kids. They didn’t ask me my opinion. They (the contestants) better have a lot of wrinkles, lots of gray hair and I guess sequins.”

UP NEXT

Missouri: Hosts Alabama on Sunday.

LSU: At Mississippi on Sunday.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll