BATON ROUGE — The No. 5 ranked LSU women’s basketball team rallied in the second half Thursday night, forced overtime, and then took down Stanford 94-88 in the SEC/ACC Challenge. With the win, the Tigers remain undefeated on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU’s Mikayla Williams drained a three-pointer to put the Tigers up first, but Stanford would respond. Elena Bosgana hit a three-pointer which sparked a 10-0 run for the Cardinal.
Shayeann Day-Wilson’s fast-break jumper ended LSU’s scoring drought but Stanford hit back-to-back threes to make it 16-5. The Cardinal maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the quarter and pushed it to 15 points after Brooke Demetre hit a three with 59 seconds left.
LSU’s Williams hit a jumper moments later and the Tigers trailed 28-15 at the end of the first.
After a layup by Stanford’s Bosgana to start the second, LSU went on a 9-0 run and the lead was trimmed to six points. The Cardinal pushed the lead back up to eight but the Tigers ended the half on 6-0 run.
At the break, Stanford led 39-37.
The Cardinal opened up the third quarter with a three-pointer by Jzaniya Harriel which ignited a 9-2 run. The Tigers finally ended the run with a second-chance tip-in by Aneesah Morrow. The issue was that the LSU star was called for a technical foul afterwards, and Stanford made both free throws to push the lead back up to nine.
LSU did manage to cut the lead down to four after Williams made back-by-back jumpers. With under a minute left in the quarter, the Tigers made it a two-point deficit as Flau’jae Johnson hit a jumper. The Cardinals responded with a layup and free throw.
Kim Mulkey’s team managed to cut the lead down to three points three times in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Stanford answered every time with a bucket to keep LSU at bay.
With 33 seconds left, Williams made a jumper off a fast break and drew the foul. Williams made the free throw and the lead was down to three again. Stanford’s Harriel was fouled and she made her two free throws to push it back up to five.
LSU came down the court and Kailyn Gilbert hit a three-pointer with 17 seconds left. After a timeout, Stanford inbounded the ball but lost it and it went out of bounds. The Tigers got the ball with 16 seconds left and Williams made the jumper to tie the game.
Stanford’s Bosgana’s desperation three-pointer at buzzer was no good and the game headed to overtime.
Williams set the tone to start overtime as she knocked down a three-point to give LSU its first lead of the game. Stanford made a layup but Day-Wilson hit a jumper to make it a three-point game again. A jumper by Gilbert made it a six-point lead for the Tigers with 1:57 left in overtime.
LSU sealed the comeback win as Williams hit a three-pointer with 38 seconds remaining.
BIG NUMBER I: 30
Stanford entered Thursday night’s game leading the nation with a 44 percent three-point percentage. LSU struggled to defend the three-pointer in the first half as Stanford made five of its first 10 attempts. The Cardinal’s pace slowed down for the remainder of the game as they shot 9-of-30 for 30 percent.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: MIKAYLA WILLIAMS
Williams was sensational as she scored a game-high 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting, made five three-pointers, and pulled down nine rebounds.
UP NEXT: LSU (10-0) will take on Grambling inside the Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City on Sunday. Tip is set for 2 p.m. and the game can be heard live on Mustang 107.1 FM — Your Home for LSU Women’s Basketball in Acadiana.
