Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center felt like the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, where LSU and Virginia Tech last met in the 2023 Final Four.
Similarly to that matchup, LSU came away with a hard-fought, 82-64 win over the Hokies.
While this win didn’t send the Tigers to the national championship, it was a statement; one that LSU needed to make to remain in the national conversation of women’s college basketball.
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In addition, the win gave Kim Mulkey her 700th win, which makes her the fastest college basketball coach, men’s or women’s, to reach that milestone. She was surprised with a congratulatory video following the win featuring her family and many former players.
“I’m trying not to get emotional. I didn’t know that was taking place,” Mulkey said. “It’s touching. Some of those people on that screen I haven’t seen since I’ve coached.”
Aneesah Morrow kept her momentum going after a 28-point performance against Niagara, and a 37-point performance against Virginia. On Thursday night, she finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 8-for-16 from the field.
Mikaylah Williams came alive in the second-half, allowing LSU to run away with the lead. She finished with a team-high of 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Just like her 17-point performance against Colorado in the season opener, the true freshman proved that she can step up in big-time games against big-time opponents.
In her return after a four-game absence, Angel Reese came back with a 19-point and nine-rebound performance. However, it took her some time to ease in, as she ended the game with four fouls and shot 9-for-16 from the foul line.
“I want people to realize that I’m not just an athlete, I’m a person, too,” Reese said. “When you’re up, everybody loves you. When you’re down, you’re going to see who really loves you.”
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There were a lot of question marks around how Reese, Morrow and the other post players would be able to defend Virginia Tech’s 6-foot-6 center, Elizabeth Kitley. But Morrow and Reese held their own, combining for 24 of the team’s 43 rebounds.
“Aneesah had to guard Kitley a lot tonight, and what did she do? She pulled the chair out from under her,” Mulkey said. “She’s not going to get buried down there.”
Along with Morrow and Reese, Flau’jae Johnson helped the Tigers grab some much-needed rebounds. The sophomore guard finished with eight rebounds and 13 points.
Despite being a guard, Johnson has been a valuable piece to LSU’s rebounding. In her last five games, she’s finished with eight rebounds or more. In a game where height was in Virginia Tech’s favor, Johnson stepped up for the Tigers.
Hailey Van Lith also added seven points and five assists.
It was expected for Kitley to provide LSU with a great challenge; she led Virginia Tech with 18 points in the Final Four matchup against the Tigers last season. Thursday night, she finished with with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
But this time, Georgia Amoore led the Hokies with 25 points, including just one three-pointer. In the Final Four, Amoore finished with 17 points, including four made threes. Thursday night, she finished 1-for-9 from behind the three-point arc.
Matilda Ekh, a transfer from Michigan State, added 11 points for the Hokies.
“At the end of the day, we do have three returners,” Amoore said. “We need to figure out how to gel, play with chemistry.”
Since LSU’s loss to Colorado in its season opener, the Tigers have won their last seven games. Virginia Tech was arguably LSU’s biggest challenge since then, and a lot has changed since the Tigers’ matchup with Colorado.
With the adjustments LSU has made since the season opener, one thing became clear Thursday night: the team that played in the PMAC against the Hokies is not the same team that played in the season opener.
It took a quarter of play for that team to emerge, as Virginia Tech held a 20-13 lead after the first quarter, and the Tigers had a team total of seven turnovers. After the second quarter, the Tigers held a 35-29 lead and turned the ball over once in the second quarter.
Thursday night’s win is the epitome of LSU’s season thus far. Things didn’t start perfect, but with the right adjustments, good things happened.
The Tigers look to continue producing even more good things in the PMAC on Sunday, Dec. 10, as they welcome the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. That matchup will tip-off at 2 p.m. C.T., and will be televised on the SEC Network-plus.
