LSU women’s basketball extended its winning streak to 13 with a dominant conference-opening win against No. 24 Arkansas.
The Tigers did this despite putting up their second-lowest point total of the season in the 69-45 win. Defense was the story of the game for LSU, holding Arkansas to just 45 points and shooting just 28% from the field. LSU also outrebounded Arkansas 62-30, creating an almost insurmountable advantage on the glass.
“I thought the 23 offensive rebounds, that’s who we are,” Head Coach Kim Mulkey said. “One of the concerns we had is we do like to go to the offensive boards but Arkansas likes to push it in transition. And I kept trying to stress to the team don’t stop doing what we do pretty darn good. And I didn’t think we stopped.”
Angel Reese was at the forefront of that effort, tallying her 13th double-double of the season in the 13th game of the season. She finished the game with 19 points and 16 rebounds and was one of three Tigers in double figures.
Freshman guard Flau’jae Johnson also had a double-double, scoring 10 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Alexis Morris was the other scorer in double figures, finishing with 19 points and six assists, shooting 4-7 from three-point range. Despite only scoring four points, LaDazhia Williams was also key for LSU in the win, grabbing 15 rebounds and two steals.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons, and we can score the basketball at all positions,” Mulkey said. “We don’t win the game without LaDazhia tonight and her 15 rebounds.”
The Tigers only led by five at the end of the first quarter, but it was relatively smooth sailing from that point forward. LSU got out to a 13-point lead at halftime, and from there Arkansas was never able to get back in the game.
The win served as a measuring stick for LSU, as it was the Tigers’ first ranked opponent of the season. Mulkey’s group certainly passed that test, and now moves into the rest of SEC play with momentum.
“We’re gonna get ready for Vanderbilt,” Mulkey said. “I hope we have a great crowd Sunday at home. I know it’s bowl season and all that good stuff but this group deserves a great crowd for Sunday afternoon. But I just can’t gauge how good we are. I mean, how do you do that? Our non conference schedule is what it is. We’ve taken grief over that. We just feel like every game we play is the last game we’ll ever play. And that’s how we need to approach it.”
The Tigers will be back home Sunday, taking on Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. The game will be streaming live on SEC Network+.
