The atmosphere of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Sunday afternoon was everything the Tigers could have asked for. With a sold-out crowd of almost 14,000 fans and an important matchup with a second place standing in the league on the line, the energy in the PMAC was electric before the game even started — but the game itself was as entertaining as the fans could have hoped for.
Florida made a crucial adjustment from the last time the two teams met in late January. The Gators held Khayla Pointer to one point in the first half, and only seven the entire game. She scored 35 points in the last matchup. Pointer still helped her teammates out in the best way she could, regardless of being defended heavily, with six rebounds and three assists. Pointer was practically eliminated from the game in the first half, but she used her leadership to help the Tigers overcome a back and forth second half.
Head Coach Kim Mulkey got every ounce of effort out of her bigs. Autumn Newby scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Tigers, and Faustine Aifuwa scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and came up with two key blocked shots towards the end of the game.
“How about our post players, I’ve been challenging them,” Mulkey said following the win. “I just thought for how poorly we shot it on the perimeter, those guys’ buckets meant a great deal to our team today.”
Mulkey also received lots of effort from her bench players. Hannah Gusters scored six crucial points in the second half, four of which were to take the lead and two of which helped the Tigers extend their lead to two scores. Awa Trasi also managed to grab five rebounds for the Tigers.
For the Gators, Nina Rickards led the team with 17 points and nine rebounds. Kiara Smith scored 13 points along with six rebounds and six assists, and Zipporiah Broughton added 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Tigers came out with intensity early, but Florida was right there to match it. Every time LSU would score, Florida had an answer. After the game was tied at eight, LSU started to break away. The Tigers went on a 7-0 run led by Aifuwa and Alexis Morris.
“I just had to step it up today,” Aifuwa said following the win. “These past couple games, I haven’t been playing my best, and I knew how big this game was going to be…I’m the last man standing in the paint, I have to defend the paint.”
The Gators were able to lessen the gap with a three pointer by Jordyn Merritt to make the score 15-11, but the Tigers ended the quarter with a 17-12 lead.
The Gators took advantage of the missed shots by the Tigers in the second quarter and were able to tie the game at 19 with a three-pointer by Rickards. But Morris helped the Tigers get the lead back with a steal and a layup to make the score 25-22. Just as they had all season long, Kiara Smith and Zipporiah Broughton led the Gators in the final minutes of the first half and helped Florida go into halftime with a 26-25 lead.
Florida carried its momentum from the first half into the second half. The Gators led by as much as three points before LSU started to find a rhythm. Hannah Gusters scored six points in the third quarter to help the Tigers get their lead back, and LSU went into the fourth quarter with a 44-40 lead.
The Tigers continued to go back and forth with Florida in the final quarter, but an and-one by Autumn Newby got the Tigers going once again. Newby and Aifuwa extended the Tigers’ lead to as much as six points before Rickards and Kiara Smith brought the Gators back to within two.
The Tigers contained the Gators enough to keep their distance, and Morris took advantage of her opportunities at the foul line. Morris made seven free throws in the final minute of the game, and she helped the Tigers extend their lead enough to secure a 66-61 win over a top-25 opponent in an electric atmosphere.
“Free throws win ball games; I knew they were very important,” Morris said following the win. “I just went up there, knocked them down.”
The Tigers will stay in Baton Rouge for their next matchup as they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday. That matchup will tip-off at the PMAC at 7 p.m. CT, and it will be broadcasted live on the SEC Network+. 

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Chynna McClinton

LSU women’s basketball fifth year senior guard Alexis Morris (45) goes up for a shot Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, during LSU’s 66-61 win against Florida in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on North Stadium Drive in Baton Rouge, La.