It took 15 minutes at halftime for LSU to find itself.

The Tigers were getting in their own way in the first half, but after going back to the drawing board and executing its gameplan, LSU walked away with a 101-71 win over Florida State.

With that win also comes a ticket to the Sweet 16.

LSU will face No. 2 NC State in the Sweet 16 on Friday at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington, and the matchup will be televised on ESPN. The winner of that game will face the winner of No. 1 overall seed UCLA and No. 5 Ole Miss in the Elite Eight, which will be played on Sunday in Spokane.

“Having this momentum for two games going into the Sweet 16 is obviously a really good feeling,” Williams said. “It gives you some confidence knowing you can dominate a good team.”

Monday night was a tale of two halves. In the first half, LSU turned the ball over eight times. The Seminoles scored 10 points off of LSU’s turnovers in the first half.

The first half turnovers were costly, but LSU shot the ball effectively throughout the entirety of the game, which was deemed to be its saving grace. The Tigers finished shooting 56.2% from the field, and 30% from three.

Mikaylah Williams found her shot early, and never seemed to lose it. She shot 10-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from three, leading LSU with 28 points.

“Once the first one goes in, it’s going to be a good game,” Williams said. “I didn’t force anything, I think I took all the open shots that came to me…I just wanted to be consistent and play an effective 40 minutes.”

Aneesah Morrow felt she underperformed on Saturday against San Diego State. Monday night, she also found her rhythm, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. She shot 12-of-21 from the field.

Her double-double Monday night marks her 29th double-double of the season.

“I feel like I did good, I could have had less turnovers,” Morrow said. “I’m very picky and that’s just the standard I have for myself.”

Morrow had help in the paint, which coincided with LSU’s game plan ahead of the matchup: crowding the paint and containing Florida State’s guards from driving to the basket.

Sa’Myah Smith finished with a double-double of her own in 20 points and 12 rebounds. She shot 9-of-9 from the field and added another six assists.

“I can’t tell you that I expected this, but when you recruit young people and you keep them healthy and they just keep plugging away, they keep just trying to get better,” Mulkey said. “So she’s just trying to get back in the flow.”

Flau’jae Johnson spent much of the first half on the bench due to fouls, but she also had trouble with her shin, which sidelined her in the regular season finale and the SEC Tournament. She returned to the floor later in the first half.

Despite having a bump in the road, Johnson still made an impact, and finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.

When it came to putting points on the scoreboard, LSU was efficient. But Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson, the country’s leading scorer, came into the matchup as efficient as any player in the nation.

And she backed up that title.

Her scoring ability combined with LSU not always taking care of the basketball only made it that much easier to establish an offensive rhythm.

Latson finished with a team-leading 30 points, 16 of which came in the first quarter. She was LSU’s focal point in its gameplan, and more often than not, LSU did not have a consistent way of containing her in the first half.

The junior guard was not the only threat Florida State had. After Latson scored just seven points in the second quarter, Makayla Timpson came in and scored 10 of her 14 total points in the second quarter, leading Florida State to within one point of LSU at halftime.

With Latson and Timpson giving Florida State considerable momentum, LSU just needed to get in the locker room and reevaluate what was in front of them.

“Just made a slight change on guarding Latson,” Kim Mulkey said. “Instead of fighting to get over the screen that they were setting at the top, go under.”

When the Tigers came out of the locker room, their plan was executed.

LSU held Latson to just seven points in the second half, and two points in the second half from Timpson. Instead, the Tigers forced eight second half turnovers from Florida State and converted those turnovers into 11 points.

Shayeann Day-Wilson was assigned to guard Latson in the second half, and she controlled Latson exactly as she was assigned to do.

“She’s an amazing defender, and she’s always coming in the clutch for us,” Johnson said.

Not only that, but LSU outrebounded Florida State 24-20 in the second half, and outrebounded the Seminoles 46-37 for the game. Florida State shot just 25% in the second half.

With the response LSU came out with after half time, it became clear that LSU hindered itself in the first half. Once it played within itself and took control of the pace of the game in the second half, the Tigers were able to gain the separation they struggled to get before halftime.

The second half was a display of what LSU could look like if it plays within itself and plays carefully.

Now, LSU is headed to Spokane to play in the Sweet 16, and it looks forward to bringing that version of itself with it.

“It’s March, no game is promised,” Smith said.