There’s an old hockey saying that fits well with what went down in the PMAC Monday night: “I went to a fight and a basketball game broke out.”
The Pete Maravich Assembly Center was packed as Baton Rouge gathered to watch the LSU women’s basketball team play at home for the last time this season — and maybe for the last time. Sadly, it was the latter as LSU fell to Ohio State 79-64 in the second round, which ended the former team’s tournament run this season.
The game was a story of three-point shooting, as it has been in every loss for the Tigers this season. Ohio State finished 10-22 from deep, making it hard for an LSU team that doesn’t shoot well from deep to keep up. The Buckeyes made more threes than LSU attempted. The team had a weakness all season and the Buckeyes took advantage.
The officiating in this game was inconsistent to say the least, making it a rough watch for fans. You could never really tell what the call was going to be. There were calls made in the first half that the fans begged for in the second half and vice-versa. There were clear out-of-bounds calls missed. The officials let the game go too far to a point where it was closer to tackle football than anything else.
That, however, is not the main thing to look at when seeing the final score. LSU had an abysmal night shooting the ball, as they entered the fourth quarter shooting just 30.8% from the field. It’s hard to imagine a situation where you win the game with that number. That number jumped up to 36.8% by the end of the game, as LSU tried to get a run going. It was just not enough.
This season should not and will not be remembered for this loss, however. If you asked any LSU fan, player or coach before the season if they thought they would make it to the Round of 32, they would probably call you crazy. The turnaround that this program saw in year one of Kim Mulkey was truly unbelievable. The atmosphere brought to the PMAC this season was incredible.
This program as a whole is just getting started, but sadly it was the last time a lot of these Tigers will be suiting up for the team. The efforts of Autumn Newby, Faustine Aifuwa, Jailin Cherry, Awa Trasi, Ryann Payne and Khayla Pointer will go down in school history as the start of something new.
“This bunch jump started the program again,” Coach Mulkey said about this group after the game. “They revived it again. They gave everybody interest. I am forever grateful for them.”
The arena was as alive as ever on Monday, despite the big deficits. This was not a fluke. The rest of the SEC needs to get used to seeing LSU in the tournament, and atop the conference.
Players from the LSU women's basketball team and Ohio State women's basketball team fight for the loose ball Monday, March 21, 2022, during LSU’s 64-79 loss against Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on North Stadium Drive in Baton Rouge, La.
