BATON ROUGE, La. — When LSU stepped on the floor Monday evening, the Tigers knew the biggest hurdle in the way of them capturing a third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance stood in the scoring prowess and rim penetration of Florida State’s 5’8 junior guard Ta’Niya Latson.
Seconds after one of the most anticipated Round of 32 contests tipped off in front of a raucous crowd inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, the nation’s leading scorer seized control of a loose ball and took a few steps before leaping in the air for a layup to give FSU the first points of the contest. In essence, for roughly the next 20 minutes, it marked the genesis of the Latson showcase — 23 points in the first half — while sprinkling in timely buckets from FSU’s first-team All-ACC forward Makayla Timpson, who dialed up a dozen points as the Seminoles’ second-best source of offense.
Although Latson’s dribble penetration helped her land favorable shots at the rim and draw fouls for free throw opportunities, the Tigers still managed to shoot 58% from the floor and led 50-49 at halftime. After a first half that felt like a track meet to see which team could score 100 points first, LSU senior forward Aneesah Morrow looked at her teammates in the locker room and delivered a candid message that resonated with all of them.
“[Aneesah Morrow] said take it personal,” LSU’s Mikaylah Williams told The Next of Latson’s first half performance after the game. “One person shouldn’t be able to beat us.”
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Morrow’s message activated LSU’s defensive intensity. The Tigers stifled the Seminoles in the second half, limiting FSU to 22 points including a 31-6 blitz in the third quarter that shattered any chance of an FSU comeback in the Tigers’ 101-71 victory.
For LSU, it provided the country with another glimpse into what a complete Tigers’ team — one that is unselfish, creates consistent ball movement and notches big performances from its Big Three along with strong outings from the bench — looks like in the month of March with two more games sitting between it and the program’s seventh Final Four appearance.
“You don’t take Sweet 16s for granted,” LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said postgame after the Tigers’ dominant win. “There are many people that never get there. … In our locker room, there’s five [players] that have never been to a Sweet 16. … I explained to them, this is why you came here.”
Mulkey added: “We don’t play to just get to a Sweet 16 at LSU women’s basketball anymore,” she said. “Not that we take it for granted, but our goal every year is just to make a run and see if you can get to another Final Four and see if you can upset somebody you’re not supposed to upset.”
As No. 3 seed LSU (30-5) advances to face No. 2 seed NC State (28-6) in a postseason rematch at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday in Spokane, Washington, here are four takeaways from the Tigers’ final win at home before their trek to the West Coast.
The impact of Sa’Myah Smith
Entering Monday’s game, Mulkey didn’t have Smith scoring a season-high 20 points while grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out six assists on her bingo card. The last time Smith poured in a 20-point affair was in the 2023-24 campaign in the Tigers’ victory against SWAC foe Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 12, 2023.
Last season, a torn ACL limited Smith to seven games, a moment that she’s never forgotten. As one of several players who played on the Tigers’ 2023 national championship team, the 6’2 sophomore forward is hungry to help her team win another national title, as well as showcase her talent when her number is called on.
“A lot of people have never seen me at my best,” Smith told The Next. “They’ve never really seen me just go out there and hoop. There were a lot of challenges that I took into this game. I went out there and just was being me.”
However, Smith’s performance didn’t happen overnight. It took many hours of consistent work up to this point for Smith to savor this moment.
“I know during the summer she [Smith] worked hard obviously to get her knees back and be ready for the season,” said Tigers’ point guard Last-Tear Poa in the postgame news conference. “She dominated inside the paint.”
Tigers’ “Big Three” deliver another strong performance
In the Tigers’ 103-48 demolition of San Diego State, the Tigers’ Big Three — Flau’Jae Johnson, Morrow and Williams — played 25 minutes or less, which speaks to LSU’s bench production and the continuity of the team beyond its trio averaging a combined 54.4 points per game entering Monday’s contest.
In Monday’s win, things were similar but slightly different for the team’s three offensive leaders. Williams and Johnson played less than 25 minutes in the contest with the latter being limited to only seven in the first half after picking up two early fouls. On the other hand, Morrow and Smith played 34-plus minutes in the contest.
Johnson, who finished the first half with two points off 1-of-3 shots from the floor, finished the game with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Morrow notched her 29th double double of the season with 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while Williams — who was energized and hype after nearly every shot she splashed through the net — tallied 28 points on 10-of-12 shots from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 beyond the arc and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Williams told The Next that she was simply feeding off the energy from the crowd in her performance.
“The PMAC [energy] will do it to you,” she added. “It comes into you and it gives you that extra motivation, even when we go on a scoring drought. … It gives you that extra motivation to get that stop [ on defense] or to get that fastbreak on offense.”
LSU’s dominant third quarter performance
After Latson proved to be unstoppable in the first 20 minutes of action, the Tigers shut down the Seminoles’ star in the third quarter and limited her to just two of FSU’s six total points in the quarter. In the first half, LSU fought to go over tons of ball screens when guarding Latson.
Mulkey saw where that concept was still allowing the Seminoles’ guard to attack the rim to score or kick the ball out to her teammates for scoring opportunities. In the second half, LSU elected to go underneath the ball screens, giving Latson opportunities from 3-point range. However, Latson finished 2-of-10 from beyond the arc in comparison to her going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
“We just couldn’t keep her out of the paint and got in foul trouble because we couldn’t keep her in front of us and gave up the right-hand drive in the first half,” Mulkey said. “When she uses the screen, go under it and take your chances that she’s going to miss more 3s than she does free throws.”
Williams also credited her teammates for taking on the assignment of slowing down Latson.
“Shayeann [Day-Wilson], Jada [Richard], Mjarcle [Sheppard], [Last-Tear] Poa, they did an excellent job in shutting down Ta’Niya,” Williams told The Next. “I feel like their [defense] drove our offense and drove our momentum.”
Offensively, the Tigers bombarded the Seminoles with huge field goals from Williams — who notched 12 in the quarter — along with Johnson and Morrow combining for 15 points in the frame.
“We were just grooving,” Johnson said. “It was magical. Everybody was just everywhere.”
Tigers bench production, point guards step up
Ahead of Monday’s game, Johnson told the media that the team’s focus is not solely on the performance and production of its trio of stars.
“We are trying to be the big eight,” Johnson said on Sunday. “We’re trying to get everybody else to buy into another level.”
While the bench only scored 14 points, the unit brought winning plays on defense, especially from Wilson, who had previous years of experience defending Latson during her time at Duke and Miami in the ACC. Latson was limited to seven points in the second half.
“I like to take a challenge,” Day-Wilson told The Next. “I take pride on defense, and I feel like she was scoring a lot. … If there’s anything I can contribute to the team, stopping the best offensive player, I’m going to take that personal.”
The Tigers also converted 41 field goals off a season-high 29 assists, highlighting the importance of good point guard play. As Williams and Smith hugged each other after the game in happiness, and multiple players shared laughs in celebration, they all agreed that the team has come together in the last two weeks.
The ball reversal and the Tigers moving in and out of their offensive sets precisely are a reflection to the extra layer of trust and bond being built within the LSU’s floor generals.
“The point guards do the little stuff and control the tempo, flow of the game,” Day-Wilson said. “ I feel like us three, we have a big part of that and obviously you could see it here [in Monday’s game.]
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