BATON ROUGE — Valentine’s Day in Louisiana is usually reserved for roses, candlelight and the slow build toward Mardi Gras’ grand crescendo. But inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday night, romance gave way to rivalry.
Just steps from ESPN’s brightly lit “College GameDay” set, LSU’s student section swayed in purple, green and gold, twisting balloons in the air and daring to believe history might finally bend in their favor. The sellout crowd of 13,200 — some standing shoulder to shoulder in the aisles — came hoping to see something Baton Rouge hadn’t witnessed in more than a decade of LSU beating South Carolina at home.
It never came.
Instead, No. 3 South Carolina delivered a familiar ending, outlasting No. 6 LSU 79-72 in a primetime showdown that never lacked tension, only separation. The Gamecocks didn’t dominate. They didn’t overwhelm. They simply endured, and when the decisive moments arrived, they executed.
For LSU, the opportunities were there. Plenty of them.
The Tigers cut South Carolina’s lead to one three times in the final four minutes, each push met by an immediate Gamecocks response Flau’jae Johnson’s offensive rebound and jumper with 1:16 left pulled LSU within one for the final time. Moments later, with a chance to seize control, Johnson missed two free throws, a rare stumble for one of LSU’s most reliable players.
South Carolina didn’t flinch. Raven Johnson, who finished with a career-high 19 points, and Madina Okot sealed the win at the free-throw line in the final seconds, preserving the Gamecocks’ composure in a game defined by thin margins.
LSU’s frustration wasn’t rooted in what South Carolina took away, but in what the Tigers left behind.
“We missed nine [free throws],” said LSU head coach Kim Mulkey after the Tigers’ loss on Saturday night. “There’s the difference in the ballgame. … We scored the same number of field goals. We outrebounded by nine. We were 14-for-23 from the foul line. That’s where the game was lost. Make your free throws, you win.
“…You can’t do anything about free throws. If you look at the stat sheet, I can’t be too critical of many things. We didn’t turn it over much. We out rebounded them. We got to the foul line more than them. We’re 2-for-12 from the three, you still had a chance to win the ball game. 44 seconds to go, you take the lead and make one defensive stop, and we’re sitting here celebrating. This game is tough.”
Free throws told the clearest story, but they weren’t the only one.
LSU’s misses at the line proved costly, yet so did the possessions that never produced points despite second and third chances, and the defensive lapses that surfaced at the worst possible moments. The Tigers won the rebounding battle and generated opportunities to change the game’s outcome, but couldn’t consistently convert when it mattered most.
South Carolina did.
The Gamecocks, who earned their 25th victory of the season, 11th in SEC play and the 500th of Dawn Staley’s career, showed the composure of a team with larger ambitions still in front of it. February, Staley knows, is about sharpening the details before March defines everything.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s showdown:
Raven Johnson, Tessa Johnson fuel South Carolina
Much of the pregame attention centered on sophomore standout Joyce Edwards, but it didn’t take long for Tessa Johnson to reshape the night. She slipped through LSU’s defense with precision, finding space along the perimeter and delivering timely 3-pointers that quieted each Tigers surge. Entering the game ranked fifth nationally in 3-point percentage, Johnson reinforced that efficiency, shooting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc and finishing with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
Her performance carried historical weight. Johnson became the first South Carolina player since Aliyah Boston in the 2019-20 season to record consecutive 20-point games against AP Top 10 opponents — a reflection of both her growth and her reliability in the biggest moments.
“… I didn’t like the way we guarded Tessa [Johnson],” Mulkey said. “We didn’t do what we were told to do for three days.”
Alongside her, Raven Johnson delivered the most complete performance of her career. Despite facing defensive pressure and multiple steals from former teammate MiLaysia Fulwiley, Raven Johnson never lost control. She scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while adding seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block across more than 35 minutes.
With South Carolina thin at the guard position following Maddy McDaniel’s injury, both Johnsons carried extended minutes and the responsibility that came with them. Dawn Staley later described the pair as the force that carried South Carolina “over the mountaintop,” their composure and execution defining the difference in a game where neither team ever pulled away.
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Extra possessions, but not enough production for LSU
LSU won the battle that so often decides games like the one on Saturday. The Tigers controlled the glass, outworking South Carolina for rebounds and second chances, creating the kind of possession advantage that usually tilts outcomes in their favor. LSU entered the contest leading the nation in rebound margin (18.9) and scoring offense, averaging 96.6 points per game.
LSU outrebounded South Carolina 46-37, including an 18-11 edge on the offensive boards. Yet the Tigers managed just 13 second-chance
points, only one more than the Gamecocks, and far below their season average of 19.9 entering Saturday night. Even Dawn Staley recognized how significant that advantage should have been.
“…Eighteen offensive rebounds from a team like LSU means they win basketball games,” Staley said.
The Tigers didn’t Saturday. And the reasons felt familiar.
In each of LSU’s four losses this season — Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Texas and now South Carolina — the Tigers encountered the same barriers like empty halfcourt possessions against disciplined defenses, missed perimeter opportunities and late-game sequences that slipped just out of reach. Against Kentucky, it was a late defensive breakdown. Against Vanderbilt, outside shots never fell. Against Texas, fourth-quarter execution faltered under defensive pressure.
Free throws became the most visible symbol of those missed chances. LSU finished 14-of-23 from the line, 60.8%, well below its 78.4% average in SEC play. Mulkey didn’t hide from the pattern, but she also didn’t frame it as failure. She framed it as proximity.
“Look at the four losses and what did we do in each of those games to lose the game and teach them [players] the game, lift them back up, keep them confident,” Mulkey said. “My assessment would be, keep doing what you’re doing. You’re this close to winning some of those games against people [teams] you’re not supposed to beat. … Didn’t we beat Texas here? We weren’t supposed to win that game. So just keep plugging away. Stay in the right mindset and understand that it’s a lot of basketball left to be played after the regular season’s over.”
LSU’s bench, usually a strength, couldn’t shift the outcome
LSU has built much of its identity this season on depth. Entering Saturday, the Tigers led the nation in bench scoring at 40.6 points per game, a steady wave of production that often overwhelms opponents over four quarters.
South Carolina never allowed that wave to form. LSU’s bench produced only 18 points, less than half its season average. Twelve came from MiLaysia Fulwiley and freshman Bella Hines, while Grace Knox provided steady minutes to spell LSU’s starting guards.
Still, in the closing minutes, Mulkey saw something she couldn’t ignore.
Hines, playing just seven minutes in the second half, scored six points and brought a defensive intensity that stood out against South Carolina’s experienced backcourt. She challenged shots, moved without hesitation and injected energy into a game defined by narrow margins.
“I saw a kid [Hines] that I need to play more,” Mulkey said. “She needs to take away some of the minutes of some of them [starting], because she got out there and guarded Tessa [Johnson]. She wasn’t afraid to blow up to her. She made shots. She had a lot of energy and effort, and she has my respect.”
What’s next for South Carolina and LSU
The Gamecocks will return to action on Thursday when they go on the road to face Alabama before returning home on Sunday to face Mississippi. The Tigers will go on the road starting Thursday to face Mississippi before returning to the PMAC on Sunday with a clash against Missouri.
South Carolina didn’t leave Baton Rouge with dominance. It left with something more valuable, proof that in the tightest moments, composure still separates contenders from challengers. As for LSU, the margin between frustration and breakthrough has never looked smaller or more attainable.
