By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 13 LSU’s 12-point halftime lead over Tennessee had dwindled four times in the second half to a single possession.
In one stretch lasting almost 13½ minutes, the Tigers clanked 13 of 16 shots.
It didn’t matter if it was Angel Reese repeatedly missing layups or Mikaylah Williams, Aneesah Morrow or Hailey Van Lith misfiring on mid-range or 3-point jumpers.
The ball wasn’t going in the basket. It appeared the fatigue of playing three games in a week had caught up with LSU.
The Tigers were about to flame out when Van Lith restarted the engines by scoring five points in 17 seconds. She ignited a 15-2 run that propelled LSU to a 75-60 victory over the Lady Vols.
Van Lith, the grad transfer from Louisville, scored her 12 of her LSU career-high 26 points in the Tigers’ saving-the-best-for-last 27-point fourth quarter.
“I could give you at least six reasons that we could have lost the game today,” said LSU head coach Kim Mulkey, whose Tigers (24-4 overall, 11-3 in the SEC) can win outright or clinch a second-place tie in the league with a win at Georgia Thursday.
Well, there was the fact LSU had its worst shooting game of the year against the taller Lady Vols. The Tigers made just 29 of a season-high 88 field goal attempts for a season-low 33 percent.
LSU also missed a season-high 30 layups, making just 12 of 42 from point-blank range. The only reason the Tigers overcame that is they collected a season-best 29 offensive rebounds.
LSU got multiple shots on 15 possessions including 6 shots on 5 offensive rebounds in a 21-second first quarter burst. The Tigers finished with 28 extra shots off offensive rebounds.
Four of LSU’s starters had 7 or more rebounds, topped by Reese with 11 points and 16 rebounds, and Morrow with 8 points and 13 rebounds.
“LSU’s momentum swings can be really, really high,” said Tennessee head coach Kelli Harper, whose team fell to 16-10 overall and 9-5 in the SEC. “They can really jump out on you. They can score a lot of points in a hurry. That’s where they are really good.”
LSU’s saving grace, besides rebounding, was it committed just 7 turnovers, tying a season low. It came on the heels of the Tigers’ season-high tying 22 turnovers in Thursday’s too-close-for-comfort 72-66 home win over Auburn.
In the first half, LSU took the home crowd of 15,281 packing Food City Center out of the game.
Van Lith closed LSU’s 19-16 first quarter with a 3-pointer and opened the Tigers’ 19-10 second quarter that boosted LSU to a 38-26 halftime lead.
Reserve center Aalyah Del Rosario started a 10-0 run in a 5:13 span with a 3-point play. Tennessee missed 11 of its last 13 shots in the quarter.
The Lady Vols, led by Rickea Jackson’s 16 points, re-grouped by outscoring LSU 19-10 in the third quarter. The Tigers missed 14 of 18 shots in the period, including 10 layups.
Trudging back to the huddle before the start of the fourth quarter, awaiting the Tigers was an encouraging coaching staff.
“Our coaches do a really good job of making them (the players) get that sourpuss look off their face,” Mulkey said. “You just tell them we still have the lead at the end of the third quarter. Let’s go ball. This is what you want. This will make us better.”
In the final quarter, Van Lith stepped up for the Tigers. She scored 12 points and Bossier City freshman Williams (who finished Sunday with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists), Flau’jae Johnson and Reese combined for the other 17.
“She (Van Lith) was taking a lot of criticism, and it needs to stop,” Mulkey said. “She had zero turnovers (vs. Tennessee) in almost 37 minutes of play. “She hit big shots in the game when we needed a shot the most. She handled the ball the last couple of minutes when we used up the clock.”
Johnson, who didn’t practice Saturday because she was sick, had 5 points and 4 rebounds in the final period. It capped a day in which she had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in 36 minutes.
“We didn’t even know if Flau’jae was going to play,” Mulkey said. “We left at 8 a.m. yesterday, she got on the plane and said she was sick. I don’t even know what her symptoms were. I saw her at breakfast this morning. The trainer said, `Can you go or not?’ Of course, she said she felt great. When you’re a baller, you don’t want the coach to know you really don’t feel good.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com