By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – No. 20 Alabama revealed the blueprint for beating the No. 7 LSU women’s basketball team three days ago.
Sunday afternoon on LSU’s Senior Day in the regular season SEC finale, Ole Miss followed the Crimson Tide’s plan perfectly.
The Rebels battled back from a 15-point third-quarter deficit, bullying the Tigers into 23 turnovers and scoring inside almost anytime they wanted in an 85-77 upset that broke LSU’s 24-game homecourt winning streak dating back to mid-January of last season.
LSU senior forward Aneesah Morrow had 28 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Mikaylah Williams from Parkway High in Bossier City added 25 points.
But playing without leading scorer Flau’Jae Johnson, who’s sidelined with a shin inflammation until the Tigers likely host an NCAA tourney regional starting on March 21 or 22, LSU (27-4, 12-4 SEC) fell apart in virtually every phase.
In a blink, the Tigers went from coast mode with a 44-31 halftime lead to being roasted with the Rebels outscoring LSU 54-33 in the second half.
“We need to be disciplined,” said Morrow, who became the second player in NCAA Division 1 history with 100 double-doubles. “It starts in practice. We need to have better practices and we need to be as disciplined as we can be offensively and defensively.”
Despite the loss, LSU had already earned a double bye as the No. 3 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C. The Tigers play in Friday’s quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s game between Alabama and Wednesday’s Florida-Auburn winner.
It was just the third time in Kim Mulkey’s 136-game LSU head coaching tenure over the last three seasons that she has lost two consecutive games. The Tigers lost 88-85 in overtime at Alabama on Thursday night.
Mulkey said she decided to sit Johnson until the Tigers host an NCAA tourney regional starting on March 21 or 22.
“When your shins are hurting you, you cannot mentally perform,” Mulkey said. “I don’t care how tough you are, how much pain tolerance you have, it affects you. And she (Johnson) has tried her hardest and put her heart out there.
“I just decided after Alabama we’re a three seed (in the SEC tournament) no matter if we win another ball game, so why not do it now? No matter what happens there (in the league tournament), we’ve earned the right to host (an NCAA regional) here. The most important thing is to get her (Johnson) healthy before the NCAA Tournament begins.”
It was Rebels’ seventh-year head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s first win over LSU. Ole Miss (20-9, 11-6) snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Tigers that dated back to the 2014-15 season.
“Their (LSU) offense is one of the best in the country,” McPhee-McCuin said. “And our defense is one of the best in the country, so it’s really what we do. I don’t know of a team we hadn’t turned over at a high level.
“Our defense (vs. LSU) allowed us to score easily on the offensive end. And that is something that has been missing.”
Even with Morrow scoring 11 of LSU’s first quarter 19 points and though the Tigers never trailed until 1:03 left in the third quarter, LSU never got a run larger than six consecutive points.
Ole Miss graduate transfers KK Deans (Florida), Starr Jacobs (Arkansas Pine-Bluff) and Tameiya Sadler (Colorado) combined to outscore LSU by themselves in the second half.
Sadler finished with 19 points, Jacobs had 17 and Deans contributed 17 as the Rebels won almost every “effort” category including rebounds (38-34), second chance points (19-14) and points off turnovers (27-16).
“We just didn’t break, “Deans said. “We locked in on defense, and our shot started falling. We poured into each other. We gave each other confidence.”
Ole Miss closed the game on an 11-3 run after the Tigers pulled into a 74-74 tie on a Mjacle Sheppard layup with 3:03 left.
LSU’s last seven possessions produced three missed shots, two turnovers, a Morrow free throw and a Williams layup.
The Tigers trailed 78-75 when Morrow was called for charging as she banked in a driving basket that was wiped off the board with 1:25 left. Seventeen seconds later, Sader nailed a 3-pointer for an 81-75 lead, and LSU was all but done.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com