LSU survives Tulane’s fourth quarter comeback attempt, 85-74 – LSU

BATON ROUGE – After leading by 20 entering the fourth quarter, LSU (6-0) survived Tulane’s (1-3) fourth-quarter comeback attempt Wednesday in the PMAC, outlasting the Green Wave, 85-74.

Tulane started the fourth quarter on a 17-4 run to cut the deficit to seven, but LSU held the Green Wave without a bucket in the final three minutes to remain undefeated.

“We had a 20-point lead on them and they never went away,” coach Kim Mulkey said of Tulane. “If they play like that going forward in their conference, I think they’re going to win a lot of basketball games.”

Flau’jae Johnson finished the contest with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists to record his third straight 25-5-5 game. She scored 15 points in the second half and also had 2 blocks. Aneesah Morrow recorded her nation-leading fifth double-double of the season with 23 points and 16 rebounds.

“The kid has a motor,” Mulkey said of Morrow. “Like in life, you want to be around people who have energy and enthusiasm. She never stops, whether they miss a shot, get a rebound or not, she never stops. She works constantly.”

Jersey Wolfenbarger had a season high for the second straight game with 15 points to go with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Sa’Myah Smith contributed 9 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.

“I see a lot of confidence,” Morrow said of Wolfenbarger’s development. “I feel like she’s getting the feel of it now. She always pulls me aside if she ever needs help or has questions. I feel like she’s more confident playing. We help each other and communicate. “

“If you combine Sa’Myah Smith and Jersey,” coach Mulkey explained, “you can’t ask them to do more than they did tonight. Look at their stats. I’ll take it any day. They both got good minutes. They both produced. They both got the ball.”

Along with Johnson, both Mikaylah Williams and Last-Tear Poa had five assists in the game.

Tulane had two players finish with over 20 points. Kyren Whittington had a team-high 24 points, 20 of which came in the second half. All of Victoria Keenan’s 21 points came in the first half as she shot 7-8 from beyond the arc. LSU’s Johnson held her scoreless in the second half, limiting her to three shot attempts.

“What I’m most proud of is coming in on the Tulane sophomore (Keenan), who hit seven threes, but she didn’t score in the second half,” Johnson said. “For the most part, I kept the mentality of not letting the first half defeat me.”

Morrow started the scoring for the Tigers, converting an and-1 layup off the assist from Johnson. Johnson and Williams both found success in the lane early in the first quarter, converting layups to give LSU the early 7-2 lead. The Tigers entered the media timeout on an 8-2 run with contributions from Mikaylah Williams, Morrow and Wolfenbarger. Out of the break, Wolfenbarger forced a steal to lead a Johnson mid-range jumper that featured some shifty maneuvers to increase LSU’s lead to 10. Wolfenbarger continued to assert his presence in the offensive paint, netting a putback layup over two Tulane defenders . After one quarter, LSU led Tulane 25-15. Morrow scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting and tallied 4 rebounds to pace the Tigers in both categories. LSU held Tulane to 6-18 shooting in the first and forced 4 turnovers.

Sa’Myah Smith got the Tigers going in the second quarter with a made layup. After two made three-pointers from Tulane’s Victoria Keenan, Morrow answered with a tough layup in the paint and a mid-range layup to restore a 10-point LSU lead. After Last-Tear Poa forced an offensive foul, Williams found Johnson in the corner for a three-pointer that boosted the energy in the arena. Keenan stayed hot for Tulane, draining multiple triples in short order to cut LSU’s lead to 8. But Wolfenbarger gave LSU a key spark on offense as the forward drained two shots on back-to-back possessions. Poa continued to facilitate the offense as the veteran guard found Wolfenbarger in the paint again for the and-1 score. At the half, LSU held a 50-37 lead over Tulane. Morrow and Wolfenbarger led the Tigers in scoring with 15 and 13, respectively. The Bayou Bengals were strong on the glass in the half, outrebounding the Green Wave 26-17.

Both teams struggled to start the quarter on offense, but LSU ended the drought with Morrow scoring on back-to-back possessions. Johnson then flew down the court and beat the defender to the spot for the and-1 layup to give LSU the 15 point lead over Tulane. Morrow earned his fifth double-double of the season and fourth in a row in the third quarter. Johnson drained his second three-pointer of the game off the assist from Shayeann Day-Wilson. The Tigers brought out offensive creativity in the front row of the contest as Smith found Poa on a tip pass for the easy two points. Johnson grabbed her 10th rebound of the contest in the third, giving the standout guard her second 10-point, 10-rebound performance of the season. Smith made an immediate impact on the boards in the third quarter as she grabbed several missed shots and converted putbacks. The Tigers had a 75-55 lead after three quarters.

Morrow capped a 20-point night with the first bucket in the fourth quarter. Tulane went on a 13-2 run over 5 minutes in the fourth, prompting an LSU timeout. Guard Kyren Whittington led the Green Wave’s late game with 9 points in the offensive attack. Johnson dropped a layup with 3:30 left to give LSU a 10-point advantage. On the very next possession, Tulane was able to get the long-range triple to fall, cutting LSU’s lead back to 7. The Tigers forced a missed three-pointer from the Green Wave, and Johnson got a second chance to go down on the next possession. After both teams found buckets in crunch time, LSU forced Tulane to foul, ending the game 85-74.