BATON ROUGE, La. — Mikaylah Williams scored 28 points and Aneesah Morrow added 26 points and 11 rebounds, leading Flau’Jae Johnson and LSU to a runaway 101-71 victory over Florida State in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
Sa’Myah Smith had a season-high 20 points and 12 rebounds for LSU (30-5), which blew open a 50-49 halftime margin by outscoring the Seminoles 31-6 in the third quarter.
“That’s probably our best third quarter by far,” Morrow said. “I was of course proud that our team was able to do that because we’re capable — and sometimes you have to see that, especially if we’re going to the Sweet 16.”
Johnson played just seven minutes in the first half after committing two fouls and banging her leg while running the floor. She returned to start the second half and stirred the home crowd into a frenzy with a series of electrifying plays.
“Flau’Jae always brings a lot of energy, getting the crowd involved, being able to come in and make an instant impact,” Morrow said. “Just that complete all-around player.”
Johnson began her third-quarter surge by dribbling across the paint in transition and hitting a right-handed hook off the glass while being fouled — a three-point play that gave LSU a 59-51 lead.
Soon after came her layup on a driving right-handed scoop, and then a driving no-look underhanded flip to Morrow in the paint for an easy layup.
After that, Johnson blocked O’Mariah Gordon’s perimeter shot, drew a foul on the other end and hit two free throws to make it 78-55.
“I hate sitting out in the first half. It irritates me,” Johnson said. “But just having that energy, bringing that energy for the team — I know that’s that what we need.”
Johnson scored nine of her 13 points in the period and seemed to set the tone for her team. Williams, who sat out the second quarter after committing two fouls, scored 12 during the third quarter. Meanwhile, the third-seeded Tigers suffocated a Seminoles offense that had led the nation in scoring this season with 87.4 points per game.
“They came out of halftime on a mission. We couldn’t get a couple stops, and then the ball wouldn’t go in for us,” Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “Good teams are going to prey on that.”
LSU, Wyckoff added, is “a team that’s really scary moving forward.”
FSU’s Ta’Niya Latson scored a game-high 30 points, but just seven after halftime. Makayla Timpson scored 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Seminoles (24-9).
Latson scored seconds after the opening tip and had Florida State’s first 12 points — 10 before four minutes elapsed.
Her 23 first-half points came on an array of slashing layups, floaters and a 3-pointer.
“It’s really hard to take that much of a load offensively,” Wyckoff said. “To score all those points, to play at the pace she plays at, it takes a lot out of you.”
“Thirty points tonight in only 30 minutes is pretty freakin’ good,” Wyckoff added.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey said the Tigers adjusted how they defended Latson in the second half by going under screens to protect more against her drives to the hoop — even if that meant giving her more space outside.
“We just couldn’t keep her out of the paint and got in foul trouble because we couldn’t keep her in front of us, and gave up the right-hand drive in the first half,” Mulkey explained. “So, just completely get on her right hand. When she uses the screen, go under it and take your chances that she’s going to miss more 3s than she does free throws.”
Latson finished 2 for 10 from 3-point range.
Takeaways
Florida State: The Seminoles shot just 36% (27 of 76) for the game and just 25% (9 of 36) in the second half, which wasn’t nearly good enough to keep pace with the Tigers.
LSU: The Tigers’ second half made a statement as they move on to the third round. They shot 54% (19 of 35) over the final two quarters, when they also scored 11 points off turnovers and outscored the Seminoles 28-8 in the paint. LSU also finished with 29 assists on 41 made field goals for the game.
Maryland tops Alabama in 2 OTs
Sarah Te-Biasu made a tying 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, then scored eight of her 26 points in the second overtime to help fourth-seeded and host Maryland outlast fifth-seeded Alabama 111-108 on Monday to advance to the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
The Terrapins (25-7) advance to play top-seeded South Carolina, but to get there they had to overcome a career-high 45 points by Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker — and a 17-point Crimson Tide lead in the third quarter.
After Te-Biasu forced the first overtime with her 3-pointer, Barker was fouled shooting a 3 with 0.7 seconds left in OT. She calmly swished all three attempts to tie it at 96 and send the game to a second extra session.
Texas keeps rolling
Madison Booker scored 20 points and No. 1-seed Texas used a smothering defense to earn a 65-48 home victory over No. 8 Illinois on Monday, sending the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda added 19 points for Texas (33-3), which will meet SEC rival No. 5 Tennessee (24-9) in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday.
Texas outscored Illinois 18-6 in the second quarter, then broke the game open at the start of the third when the Longhorns stretched the lead to 24 after steals by Booker and Rori Harmon led to quick baskets.
Texas’ relentless ball pressure harassed Illinois (22-10) the entire game, and the Longhorns scored 23 points off 20 Illini turnovers. All of it was keyed by Harmon, who had four steals and locked down Illinois guard Genesis Bryant, who had six turnovers.
N.C. State advances
Aziaha James scored 26 points and second-seeded N.C. State made an NCAA Tournament program-record 15 shots from 3-point range in a victory over seventh-seeded Michigan State in the women’s second round Monday.
James connected for six 3s and Madison Hayes, who had 17 points, drilled five 3-pointers. Saniya Rivers added 17 points and 11 assists and Zamareya Jones had 12 points for the host Wolfpack (28-6).
N.C. State will meet LSU in a Sweet 16 matchup on Friday in Spokane, Washington. The Wolfpack will be in the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in coach Wes Moore’s 12 seasons.
Sooners knock out Iowa
Skylar Vann scored 17 points, Payton Verhulst added 16 and No. 3 seed Oklahoma cruised into the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament, dispatching No. 6 seed Iowa 96-62.
Raegan Beers had 11 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in just 18 minutes for the host Sooners.
Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk beat her alma mater and advanced past the second round for the first time in her four years with the Sooners.
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