“I think I got my swagger back”
We are in the thick of the college basketball season, and the #6 LSU women’s basketball team is starting to look like the team we all expected: championship contenders.
The Tigers (17-2, 3-2) went into Norman and blowout the #13 ranked Oklahoma Sooners (14-4, 2-3) 91-72 Sunday afternoon. It’s LSU’s third straight SEC win after starting 0-2 and, more impressively, a second straight win over a top-15 opponent.
LSU had all of last week off heading into Sunday’s game, and it looked like the rust was going to doom the Tigers. In front of Oklahoma’s first sold out crowd since 2009, the Sooners jumped out to an early 11-2 lead, but LSU was able to tie the game 13-13 by the first media timeout.
Oklahoma was spotted an early nine-point lead, but once the game was tied up again, the Tigers ran the Sooners out of their own building. The comeback wasn’t sparked by one of the usual suspects like Flau’Jae Johnson or Mikaylah Williams, however. Today, it was sophomore point guard Jada Richard, who scored the first couple of baskets that got LSU going again.
Richard had the best game of her young career, with a career-best 21 points. Richard also had five rebounds, three assists, and was credited with two steals.
Johnson notched a double-double with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Williams had a rough go of things shooting the ball (1-8 from the floor) but still finished with 10 points thanks to knocking down all eight of her free throws. Despite her shot not falling, Williams was still able to make a positive impact with six rebounds and five assists.
MiLaysia Fulwiley was, once again, excellent coming off the bench putting up 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 21 minutes. She and Richard are giving LSU the kind of point guard play they haven’t had since Alexis Morris: a combined 33 points, 10-11 at the free throw line, five assists against just one total turnover.
Speaking of free throws, LSU was nearly perfect today on both ends of the court. The Tigers shot 29-33 at the line, while Oklahoma didn’t attempt a single free throw until the third quarter.
LSU went into the halftime break leading by 10, but Oklahoma was able to get within five points about halfway through the third quarter. But LSU went on a backbreaking 17-4 run to close the quarter and head into the fourth leading by 18 points. From there, LSU upped its lead to 24 points and the only question was how lopsided would the final score be.
I’m not sure any other team in the nation had a better seven days than LSU. The Tigers handed #4 Texas its first loss of the season last Sunday, and seven days later they beat a top-15 opponent in their building by 19 points. They are back in the race for a top-four finish in the SEC, and at this moment they are projected to be a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers get to close out January against three of the bottom feeders in the SEC (Texas A&M, Florida and Arkansas) and they’ll need to take care of business because February is shaping up to be a brutal month. LSU will play five ranked opponents in February: #21 Alabama, have a rematch with Texas in Austin, host #2 South Carolina, go to #16 Ole Miss, and close out the regular season with #20 Tennessee.
But the way these Tigers are playing lately, I like their chances against anyone.
Category: General Sports
