By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
AUBURN, Ala. – It wasn’t exactly a work of art but more of a paint-by-numbers victory.
Yet, No. 5 LSU’s 77-44 romp over Auburn here on Sunday was exactly what was expected of the SEC matchup between the league’s highest scoring and lowest scoring teams.
LSU (22-3 overall, 8-3 SEC) entered the contest averaging 36.4 more points than Auburn (13-12, 2-9 SEC), so the 33-point victory by the visiting Tigers was just about on the money.
It’s how LSU arrived at that win margin that was interesting.
The fact that the Tigers won by more than 30 points despite missing 17 of 32 layups is a testament to LSU’s dominating rebounding (54-30) and a sweat-equity defense holding Auburn to a mere 25 percent from the field (15 of 60).
“This was a bounce-back one for us,” said LSU senior guard and former Bossier City Parkway star Mikaylah Williams, who had 12 points and 7 rebounds. “We really wanted to attack the boards, clean up our defense, play some good offense, and take better shots. And I think we did that.”
Well, at least when the starting lineup was on the floor. Three of five starters scored in double figures, and four of five grabbed 7 or more rebounds.
Besides Williams, freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnson had 16 points and 8 rebounds, and senior guard Flau’jae Johnson had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Senior transfer forward Amiya Joiner came off the bench for 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers’ sizeable 23-point (36-13) halftime lead, which stretched to 33 (61-28) at the end of the third quarter, allowed Tigers’ head coach Kim Mulkey to liberally substitute in the second half. All the starters played 25 minutes or fewer.
“We held them to 13 points at the half, and then I subbed frequently and often and a lot,” Mulkey said. “Consequently, we gave up 44 (second-half) points, but that’s all right. We rested players.
“In the first half, when we had our starters out there, they closed Auburn out. They made them take a lot of shots they didn’t want to take.”
First-year Auburn head coach Larry Vickers called the game “embarrassing and tough to watch.”
“I didn’t feel like we had it today,” Vickers said. “We need one person to rise to the top, put us on her back, be a dominant scorer that we can play through every game.”
Mulkey decided to start her smaller athletic lineup, starting 6-foot ZaKiyah Johnson in the front line instead of the 6-2 Joyner and 6-2 freshman Grace Knox instead of 6-5 sophomore transfer Kate Koval.
“I thought Grace and `Z’ could defend the drives and keep Auburn out of the paint,” Mulkey said. “Offensively, they were going to run the floor. This was going to be a game where our guards were going to be able to rebound, and let’s just all fly down to the other end, and `Z ‘and Grace can get some easy transition buckets.”
LSU’s win, along with No. 3 South Carolina’s 93-50 Sunday beatdown of No. 19 Tennessee, set the stage for next Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. ABC-TV nationally televised game with the Tigers hosting the SEC-leading Gamecocks (24-2, 10-1 SEC).
South Carolina has been to five straight Final Fours under Dawn Staley, sandwiching its 2022 and 2024 national championships around LSU’s 2023 title in Mulkey’s second season.
The Gamecocks lost to UConn 82-59 in last season’s national championship game.
As LSU’s coach, Mulkey is 0-5 against South Carolina with two losses each at home (60-66, 70-76) and away (64-88, 56-66) and a loss (72-79) in the 2024 SEC Tournament finals.
“I know their personnel,” Mulkey said. “They are big and quick. South Carolina is South Carolina. They’re always good. They’re the team to beat in our league. Let’s go see how we can compete.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com
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