JOURNAL SPORTS 

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Behind a suffocating defensive performance, LSU earned its first trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 15 years, defeating Miami (Fla.), 54-42, on Sunday evening at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. 

Benton’s Emily Ward, who earned a scholarship in preseason after previously being a walk-on in the program in her first three seasons, is a senior who has played in 25 games for the Tigers. Shreveport native Jennifer Roberts, an Evangel Christian and Louisiana Tech graduate, is part of Kim Mulkey’s LSU women’s basketball staff. 

LSU (32-2) returns to the Women’s Final Four for the first time since making five straight appearances from 2004-08. The Tigers will face the winner of tonight’s matchup in Seattle between No. 1 regional seed Virginia Tech and No. 3 seed Ohio State (8:30 p.m. CT). Iowa will take on the winner of South Carolina vs. Maryland (6 p.m. CT) in the other national semifinal. 

Friday’s national semifinal will tip off at either 6 or 8:30 p.m. CT from American Airlines Center in Dallas. 

Mulkey, a three-time national championship coach at Baylor (2005, 2012, 2019), advanced to the Women’s Final Four for the fifth time in her 23-year career as a head coach, along with four straight appearances as a point guard at Louisiana Tech and seven more at her alma mater in 15 years as an assistant coach to Leon Barmore. She and Barmore are in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for their coaching accomplishments.