On its home court in front of the Longhorn faithful, it was a matter of time before No. 3-ranked Texas came alive.
With five-and-a-half minutes left in the game, Texas regained control and climbed its way to a 65-58 win over LSU.
“I think that was probably the difference in the game,” Kim Mulkey said. “Just the toughness and the ability to execute when it got to be crunch time.”
The Longhorns came into the matchup fresh off two consecutive ranked wins, including a 66-62 victory over South Carolina. Madison Booker led Texas in both points and rebounds in both games.
On Sunday, the Tigers held Booker to just two points and five rebounds on 0-of-11 shooting through the first half.
However, basketball is a game of two halves, and Booker made sure to make the second half hers. With 14 points and five rebounds in the second half, Booker finished the game with a team-leading 16 points and 10 rebounds shooting just 3-of-17 from the field.
“I’ll take that 3-for-17, just take those 10 free throws away,” Mulkey said.
But who was primarily responsible for containing Booker? Aneesah Morrow. She used her physicality to protect the basket and finished with 20 rebounds and 16 points on the day. She had 15 rebounds at halftime.
Along with Morrow, Sa’Myah Smith had a hand in controlling Brooks and Texas’ post players. She added another nine rebounds along with three points.
“I thought Sa’Myah Smith coming back home, she’s from Texas, I thought she battled,” Mulkey said.
Mikaylah Williams and Flau’jae Johnson each contributed to LSU’s offensive production outside its post.
Williams finished with 18 points in the team, shooting 7-of-19 from the field and 1-of-7 from three, and Johnson finished with 16 points, shooting 6-of-17 from the field and 2-of-3 from three.
While Booker was controlled in the paint, Taylor Jones picked up the slack. She scored 12 points and eight rebounds for the Longhorns.
Rori Harmon also finished in double figures with 10 points for the Longhorns, shooting 4-of-10 from the field, along with five assists and four rebounds. Jordan Lee and Bryanna Preston each added seven points for Texas.
So besides Texas finding its stride on offense, where did things go wrong? Well, Johnson, Williams, Morrow and Last-Tear Poa had four fouls for the Tigers, and Smith had three.
In response, Texas shot 21-of-21 from the free throw line, including 10-of-10 for Booker from the foul line.
“Both teams got to the foul line,” Mulkey said. “They made theirs.”
In addition, the Tigers gave Texas more chances to find a rhythm with 19 total turnovers. Texas converted those turnovers into an additional 13 points.
LSU finds itself on the losing side of an eventful Sunday afternoon in women’s college basketball. But it isn’t alone.
Before tip-off between LSU and Texas, UConn defeated South Carolina 87-58 in Columbia. The Gamecocks had defeated both the Tigers and the Longhorns, but Texas came back and defeated South Carolina a week before its matchup with LSU.
With Texas now in the driver’s seat of the SEC, LSU and South Carolina are right behind the Longhorns for a conference that anyone can still win.
“There’s just a lot of tough teams,” Mulkey said. “I think that we’re probably all a little grateful because when the SEC season is over, you may think the NCAA playoffs you can kind of breathe a little. But it’s tough in this league.”
LSU will look to refind its momentum as it returns to Baton Rouge. The Tigers will take on Georgia on Thursday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
