By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – For almost 44½ minutes, No. 7 LSU fought with every ounce of sweat, blood and tears it could muster in an SEC overtime battle royale.
It just wasn’t enough to beat Alabama in an 88-85 road loss.
The Tigers self-imploded at times but couldn’t overcome an overmatched officiating crew that spent most of the night hunched over a replay monitor and a home team desperate to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
Yet finally, with 31.2 seconds left in overtime with the Tigers trailing Alabama 86-84, the odds seemed to be in LSU’s favor.
After a replay review determined Alabama’s Sarah Ashlee Barker on a drive to the basket elbowed LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson in the mouth – Barker and a bloodied Johnson both fouled out on the play – LSU was awarded two free throws and ball possession because of Barker’s flagrant foul.
Tigers’ sophomore guard Mikaylah Williams, who forced overtime with a 12-foot pullup jumper for a 79-79 tie with 23.3 seconds left in regulation, stepped to the free throw line.
Williams, the SEC’s third leading free throw shooter, banged her first attempt off the back of the rim, and swished the second.
Taking possession, LSU head coach Kim Mulkey put the ball in Williams’ hands out front as she waited to make her move as the clock ticked toward zero.
Williams managed to turn the right corner but ran into a wall of Alabama defenders at the basket. She had her shot blocked by the Crimson Tide’s Essence Cody and Alabama called time out with four seconds left.
“She (Cody) did exactly what she was supposed to do in that moment and made a big play,” Barker said.
A teary-eyed Wiliiams quickly fouled Alabama’s Zaay Green, who hit two free throws with three seconds left. Mulkey called timeout, advancing LSU’s possession inbounds pass to the frontcourt.
Williams had a difficult look at a game-tying top of the key 3-pointer she missed as time ran out.
“You got two free throws to tie it and the ball in your hands to win it,” said Mulkey, whose team fell to 27-3 overall and 12-3 in the SEC headed into Sunday’s regular season closer vs. Ole Miss in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. “I’ll still say, had we won, we would not have deserved to win. We needed to match their intensity and their grit. We did it when we were behind.
“Sometimes you just have to give credit to the opponent. I think I want to do that tonight.”
Williams led LSU with 22 points, Aneesah Morrow had 16 points and 9 rebounds and Sa’Myah Smith added 15 points and 6 rebounds.
Johnson had one of her worst games of the season. Though she had 7 rebounds, she scored just 6 points on 2-of-12 field goal shooting.
Alabama’s Aalyiah Nue led all scorers with 28 points, despite fouling out. Barker had 21, Cody contributed 17 points and 6 rebounds and Green had 15.
For the Crimson Tide (23-6, 10-5), it was their first win over a top-10-ranked team since 2020.
Alabama’s 46-35 halftime lead wasn’t a fluke.
The Crimson Tide built a 23-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter. LSU made just 7 of 18 field goals and would have been in an even deeper hole had Williams not scored 7 points.
But when Williams exited with 6:22 in the second quarter, the Tigers trailed 34-21 30 seconds later after committing six turnovers in first 4:04 of the quarter.
LSU cut the lead twice to six points in the last two minutes. The sheer will of Morrow burrowing inside layers of defense and inspired off from point guard from Shayeann Day-Wilson kept LSU from quickly disappearing.
Johnson scored just a point in the first half, LSU had just one offensive rebound in the first 20 minutes and the Tigers allowed too many Alabama penetrations and layups.
Williams scored LSU’s first basket of the second half and then returned to the bench after collecting her third foul with 8:29 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers were desperately searching for answers but momentum kept being interrupted by repeated replay reviews by the befuddled officiating crew of Brian Hall, Fatou Cissoko-Stephens and Saif Esho.
“That was a poorly officiating game,” Mulkey said “And if you ask her (Alabama head coach, Kristy Curry), she’ll tell you the same thing. It wouldn’t matter if we would have won or lost.
“There was too much stoppage. I was asking (the officials) things like `What is the call? What were you saying? Why are you going to the monitor?’
“One time they went to the monitor to look at somebody getting hit in the throat. That happened two plays before. It was just too much going on, too much, too busy.”
In the end, Mulkey correctly zeroed in areas where her team failed to get it done. The Tigers were outrebounded 43-37 and missed nine free throws.
No matter what happens vs. the Rebels on Sunday, LSU has clinched the No. 3 seed in next week’s SEC tourney. The Tigers have a double bye and won’t play until next Friday.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com