Angel Reese, Aneesah Morrow lead No. 7 LSU women past Texas A&M 87-70

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LSU rattles nation's top defense, downs Texas A&M

After the Aggies enter the game as the nation's top scoring defense (48.9 ppg), the No. 7 Tigers show no fear as all starters score in double digits in an 87-70 win.

Jan 12, 2024, 04:34 am

BATON ROUGE, La. -- — Angel Reese had 20 points and 18 rebounds, Aneesah Morrow scored 21 points and No. 7 LSU beat Texas A&M 87-70 on Thursday night.

Defending national champion LSU (16-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference), which had all five starters score in double figures, hasn’t lost since a season-opening defeat to Colorado.

Mikaylah Williams scored 16 points, Hailey Van Lith had 14 and Flau’Jae Johnson finished with 11.

Endyia Rogers led the Aggies (13-3, 1-2) with 27 points. Aicha Coulibaly added 16 points and Lauren Ware had 13.

LSU was ahead by 27 points with 8:16 left but allowed the Aggies to shave 10 points off that lead, which did not sit well with Reese and her teammates.

“These games matter,” Reese said. “How many points we hold teams to and how many points we don’t allow them to score in a certain amount of time at the end of the game matters.”

The Tigers, ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring offense at 95.2 points per game, didn’t quite reach their average. But LSU made 25 of 32 free throws against Texas A&M, which came in with the country's top-ranked scoring defense, allowing 48.9 points per game. LSU leads the nation in free throws and attempts.

“If you look at our box scores after every game, it’s pretty much what you see,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “Everybody (in the starting lineup) pretty much has the same number of shots. We have too many kids who can score. They’re sharing the wealth.”

LSU's longest scoring run was 11 points, a modest achievement for the Tigers.

“We kept fighting,” Texas A&M coach Joni Taylor said. “We closed the gap on the rebounding margin. But LSU is a really good team. You’ve got to keep them off the offensive glass and keep them off the foul line. We especially in the fourth quarter weren’t successful doing that.”

With Reese and Morrow combining for 17 points, LSU led 22-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers closed with a 9-0 run in the final 3:04.

Williams and Van Lith combined to score 12 straight points as LSU built a 34-23 lead in the first three minutes of the second quarter. But LSU couldn’t put Texas A&M away, in part because of a cold shooting stretch. The Tigers led 44-37 at halftime.

LSU’s third-quarter march to the free-throw line — it was 10 of 12 while the Aggies didn’t attempt a free throw — boosted the Tigers’ lead to 68-49 heading to the final quarter.

BIG PICTURE

Texas A&M: After an LSU player climbed over the back of an Aggie with no foul call in the second quarter, Taylor screamed at official Kevin Pethel and chased him down the sideline in front of the Aggies’ bench before he stopped and called a technical foul on her. “I’m not someone who gets a lot of techs,” Taylor said. “So, if you look at history, if I’m getting a tech, it’s real and not for show.”

LSU: The Tigers are playing a seven-person rotation. “I’d like an eighth and ninth player to step up,” Mulkey said. “I want to play more players. But that playing time comes in practice. That playing time comes with you making me confident in you.”

UP NEXT

Texas A&M Hosts Tennessee on Sunday.

LSU: At Auburn on Sunday.

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