For the 4th straight year, LSU will be dancing in the Sweet 16. After falling short to South Carolina in the SEC tournament on March 20, this LSU team was anxious to get back on the court and show everyone why they’re a two seed in this year’s NCAA tournament. (Their highest seeding under Coach Kim Mulkey).
“We were itching,” Mikaylah Williams said after LSU breezed past Jacksonville in the first round of the NCAA tournament. “We were itching to play basketball. I was excited to come in here. Everybody was excited. The energy was great. I don’t know if you could feel it, but the energy was immaculate.”
That itch and energy are what propelled the Tigers to victory. LSU dominated Jacksonville all evening en route to a 116-58 victory, and in the process, they tied the single-season record for 100-point games in a season with 15. It’s performances like these that exemplify why big-time recruits come to LSU in the first place.
“If you want to hoop, come to LSU,” Flau’Jae Johnson said. “If you really just want to hoop, Coach Mulkey, she’s just like, ‘Go ball,’ you know what I mean? And I think, like everybody, looking at her like this is why people like to come and play at LSU.
LSU turned around just two days later and replicated that same style of basketball for the second round, only this time against a more formidable opponent, seven-seeded Texas Tech…or so it seemed.
LSU took care of Texas Tech with a dominant 101-47 victory. But this contest was less about advancing to the Sweet 16, as that’s become expected of this program. It being Flau’Jae Johnson’s last game in the PMAC made this postseason game a bit more emotional.
“I don’t even think people know her last name; you just know that’s Flau’Jae,” Kim Mulkey said.
She has many names: Big 4, Big Feaux, Flau’Jae, or Flau’Jae Johnson—whatever alias comes to mind for you. Regardless of the name, the love the LSU fanbase has shown to the first McDonald’s All-American recruit under the Kim Mulkey tenure here has been immeasurable, and Flau’Jae has appreciated every bit of it.
“I was talking to somebody; I forgot what I told them, but I was like, when I came here, I just wanted to be SEC Freshman of the Year,” Johnson said. That’s all I was thinking about. Of course, winning a national championship, that was crazy. Everything else that came with it has been just beyond my wildest dreams.
Of course, there were moments during Sunday’s contest that typically bring the house down, but from the pregame cheers when a player was flashed on the Jumbotron to Flau’Jae subbing out in the PMAC one last time, this game had a way of pulling on your heartstrings, and this was apparent for Flau’Jae.
“I knew I was going to lose it, but I was holding strong,” Johnson said. “Then my teammates came and hugged me, and it was like a roar I heard in that PMAC, and it was like wow. And I gave everything I had and just let everything out. It was the most beautiful thing that I’ve been a part of. Something I’m going to remember forever. Just so thankful for the fans. Thankful to Coach Mulkey. The whole program. It’s just been unimaginable.”
Even with all the hoopla, there was still a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, and Flau’Jae led the way along with the help of her co-star Mikaylah Williams, as they each scored 24 points en route to a record-setting 16th 100-point game in a single season.
“Man, I think we had a players-only meeting, and we said what we need to do,” Johnson said. “I think me and Mikaylah we have just kind of taken on that leadership thing to the max, and it starts in practice. We always communicate, and we’re always talking. Just that energy that we bring.”
LSU will need that energy as they get ready to hit the road to Sacramento to take on three-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16 on Friday, March 27th.
