BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — 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 what had been a 50-49 game at halftime by outscoring the Seminoles 31-6 in the third quarter.
Johnson, who played just seven minutes in the first half after apparently reaggravating a right shin injury, returned to start the second half and stirred the home crowd into a frenzy with a series of electrifying plays.
She began 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.
She scored nine of her 13 points in the period and her energy was contagious. Williams scored 12 during the quarter while the third-seeded Tigers suffocated a Seminoles offense that had led the nation in scoring this season with 87.4 points per game.
Ta'Niya Latson scored a game-high 30 points, but just seven after halftime. Makayla Timpson scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the sixth-seeded Seminoles (24-9).
Latson scored just 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.
Johnson scored just two points in the first half. But she was first out of the locker room to take warmup shots as halftime wound down.
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 going to be 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.
Up next
LSU advances to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, a streak that began during its 2023 national title run. Last season the Tigers advanced to the Elite 8 before losing to Iowa.
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