Da Boot Sports
1/30/2022
By: Terrill J. Weil 


   BATON ROUGE, LA: After losing two in a row, the Lady Tigers looked to rebound against the Kentucky Wildcats in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday afternoon and that they did. After three and a half hard fought quarters, the Lady Tigers stepped up their play late in the game to pull away for a 78-69 victory in front of 8,734 loud LSU fans.  

   “Timing is everything,” Mulkey said. “We went to Florida, we battled, and we came up short. We went to Arkansas, we didn’t play well. We have to give credit to Arkansas. I told them we had to come home and just keep doing what we have been doing. Do what we have been doing but play a little tougher. I thought the crowd was great, I think it was our second largest this year. We had a lot going on to continue a good crowd today, it was a good atmosphere.”

   Khayla Pointer led the team with 28 points, scoring 19 of them in the fourth period to help lead her team to victory. Faustine Aifuwa had a great final period, scoring huge baskets late in the contest as she finished with 14 points on the day. Alexis Morris finished with 20 points while Jailin Cherry added 11.
   After a poor shooting first half, LSU finally woke up offensively in the fourth period as they ended the game shooting
28-64 from the floor for 44%, while sinking 5-8 from three point land for 63%. LSU also finished strong at the free throw line after struggling early in the contest, hitting 17-24 for 71%.  With the win LSU now sits at 18-4 overall and 6-3 in the SEC.  


   Kentucky started with the hot hand early as Jada Walker hit a three pointer to give the Lady Wildcats an early 3-0 lead. Over the next four minutes, Kentucky extended their lead to 11-6 as Walker continued to give LSU problems as she sank two more baskets.
   LSU answered with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 13-13 at the 2:50 mark thanks to tough defense and solid rebounding by the Lady Tigers.
   Over the final two minutes, LSU would outscore Kentucky 10-4 to lead 23-17 at the end of the first period. 

   The second period was played at a much slower pace, which caused problems for the Lady Tigers as they struggled with their half court offense. 
   After holding a six point lead, 28-22 at the 6:39 mark, Kentucky would begin to chip away at the LSU lead. The Lady Wildcats outscored the Tigers 12-5 over the final three minutes taking a 34-33 lead into the locker room at the half. 
   Thanks to a strong second period, Kentucky finished the first 20 minutes shooting 52% from the floor going 14-27, while the Lady Tigers cooled down to finish hitting only 12-33 from the floor for 36%. The big stat of the first half was free throws. LSU left five points at the line as they only hit 6-11 for 55%. 
   Alexis Morris led the team at the half with 13 points. Khayla Pointer finished with 7 points, while Faustine Aifuwa added 6.


   LSU started the third period playing with intensity, going on a 6-0 run to take a 39-34 lead with 7:53 left on the clock. But Kentucky would fight back to tie the contest at 39-39 as Emma King's drained three pointer led the Wildcats' run.
   The game suddenly changed into a track meet as both squads would go blow for blow, trading baskets until the officials timeout at 4:08 with LSU leading 46-43.
   The Lady Tigers would cool off late in the period and Kentucky took advantage, storming back to grab the lead with 58 seconds left in the period, 50-48.
   With LSU sputtering, the Wildcats added two free throws by Jada Walker to extend Big Blue's lead to 53-48 at the end of the third period. 

   In a game that most expected LSU to win handily, it ended up turning into a back and forth SEC slugfest, as Kentucky's
physical defensive play gave LSU fits. 
   Khayla Pointer then put the team on her shoulders and scored five straight points to tie the game at 53-53 as the Maravich
Center crowd would erupt with 7:37 left in the contest. Pointer ended up scoring 19 huge points in the fourth quarter.
   Neither team would back down as they continued to trade baskets, until Pointer would score a layup off of a turnover giving LSU a three point lead, 63-60 at the 4:48 mark.
   Khayla Pointer once again got the LSU fans cheering on their feet as she would steal a pass and take it the length of the floor to the basket, laying it in to extend the Tigers' advantage to 65-60.
   After Dre'una Edwards drained a three pointer for the Lady Wildcats, LSU quickly answered when Faustine Aifuwa scored on a layup and drew a foul. Aifuwa missed her charity shot, but Pointer would make up for it on the next possession, hitting a huge jumper to give LSU a 69-63 lead with 2:20 left on the clock. 
   LSU began raising their play as they responded to the roar of 'LSU! LSU! LSU! from the Tiger crowd. Aifuwa banked in another layup to extend the lead to seven, 71-64 at the 1:48 mark. 
   The Bayou Ben-Gals would then take care of business at the free throw line, finishing off the Wildcats to end their two game slide with an exciting 78-69 SEC victory. 

   Next up the Tigers will travel to Oxford to due battle with the Ole Miss Rebels on Monday, Feb. 7th. Tipoff is set for 6:00pm and the game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi

Photos Below By: Jonathan Mailhes

Da Boot Sports
1/27/2022
LSU Sports Information
By: LSU Staff


   FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The LSU Women’s Basketball team dropped its second game in a row, falling to Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena Thursday night, 90-76.
   “I just thought we didn’t shoot the ball well,” said LSU Head Coach Kim Mulkey. “They were sagging in the paint. It wasn’t like Florida where they were up in us and really guarding us hard. We had some really easy, good looks that we normally make and we just didn’t make them.”
   The Tigers fell to 17-4 and 5-3 in the SEC and Arkansas improved to 14-6 and 4-3 in the conference.
   Alexis Morris led LSU with 22 points, all of which came in the second half. Autumn Newby had 15 points and also led the Tigers with 9 rebounds.
   Khayla Pointer recorded 5 rebounds as she reached 500 in her career. She is the only player in program history to have 1,500 points, 500 assists and 500 rebounds. She also had 13 points Thursday night.
   Amber Ramirez finished with a game-high 25 points, making 5 threes, and Samara Spencer had 20 for the Razorbacks as did Makayla Daniels. Arkansas hit 13 threes and shot 52-percent from beyond the arc.
   LSU turned the ball over 16 times and Arkansas scored 20 points off of turnovers.
   The Tigers return to the PMAC this Sunday to take on the Kentucky Wildcats at 1 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network. 
   Arkansas started the game with the first points before Jailin Cherry got LSU on the board with an 18-foot pull-up jumper. Pointer found Newby on a pick-and-roll with 5:50 left in the first quarter to give LSU its first lead of the game, 6-5, but the Razorbacks scored the next five. Out of the media timeout, Cherry hit her second pull-up jumper to tie the game at 10. After Cherry and Newby scored LSU’s first 10, Ryann Payne gave LSU a one-point lead with a free-throw and then Hannah Gusters got involved, but Arkansas’ Daniels responded with a three to tie it then Amber Ramirez hit a trey to take the lead back. Payne made her first basket and LSU trailed, 16-15 after one quarter.
   After going scoreless and 0-2 in the first quarter, Pointer hit her first shot attempt of the second quarter to give LSU a 17-16 lead. Arkansas took the lead back on the next possession and then hit its fourth and fifth threes to go up, 24-17. Payne ended the run with a jumper from the right baseline, but Arkansas came back down the court and sank its third three in a row and LSU called timeout.
   Ramirez pulled up from 20 for Arkansas to go up by 10 and then the Razorbacks scored on a fast-break off of LSU’s eighth turnover to go up 31-19 and LSU took another timeout at the 4:48 mark. LSU went to a small, four-guard lineup out of the timeout. Faustine Aifuwa, the only LSU big in the game, scored on the Tigers’ first possession with the small lineup. Awa Trasi soon replaced Cherry in the game as LSU went with a bit more size. Pointer was called for an offensive foul, her second personal, and Cherry replaced her and promptly hit a shot. Aifuwa picked up her second with 1:24 left in the half and was replaced by Newby who made a nice move in the post to score and make it 37-27 on her first offensive possession back in, but LSU ultimately went into the half trailing, 39-28, its largest halftime deficit this season.
   Arkansas made six threes in the first half and shot 40-percent from beyond the arc compared to no made threes by LSU. The Razorbacks scored 11 points off of 11 LSU turnovers.
   Alexis Morris got her first points of the game, scoring the first four points of the half, but Ramirez responded with two straight threes. The teams went back and forth as LSU was unable to reduce the lead by much and Arkansas was able to extend it. Arkansas led 48-40 at the media timeout. Ramirez kept the hot hand for the Razorbacks and put them up 56-44 with her fifth made three with 3:34 left in the quarter. With LSU on a scoring drought, Arkansas finished the quarter on a 12-1 run to go up 65-45 as the Tigers didn’t score for the final 2:49 of the third.
   Pointer hit LSU’s first three-pointer with 3:40 left in the game to reduce the deficit to 17 points, but LSU never strung a run together to threaten the lead Arkansas had built.

Da Boot Sports
1/24/2022
By: Terrill J. Weil


   GAINESVILLE, FL: LSU fell to the Gators, 73-72 in an exciting see-saw battle that went down to the wire in Gainesville on Sunday afternoon. 
   The Lady Tigers played well through most of the contest, however it was Florida's three point shooting that was the difference in the game. The Lady Gators hit 6-17 from behind the three point arc, as LSU only managed to hit one trey all day long, finishing 1-9 from three land. LSU also hurt themselves turning the ball over 19 times in the game.
   The ball simply didn't bounce the Tigers way late in the game, as Florida got the stops and hit their free throws to steal the win. 

   “It was a game where they started out tougher, more physical guarding us,” said LSU Head Coach Kim Mulkey. “We hung in there. We battled. I thought Khayla Pointer almost single handedly won the game for us. They won by a point and we get to play them again in a couple of weeks (Feb. 20 in Baton Rouge). Hopefully we learn from it.” Mulkey added. “We’ve got to get back on that plane, head home, learn from it and get ready for a completely different Arkansas team,” 


   Both teams struggled to score during the first two minutes of the contest before LSU broke the ice on a layup by Autumn Newby, but the Gators answered quickly with a three pointer by Kiara Smith giving Florida a 3-2 lead at the 8:17 mark.
   The game remained close over the next two minutes before Florida would go on a 7-0 run to build a 10-4 advantage with 4:52 left in the first period.
   Over the next two minutes, LSU answered with six straight to pull the game even at 10-10 with 2:52 left on the clock. But it quickly began to turn into a game of mini runs as the Gators would then respond with a 6-0 run, taking a 16-10 lead with 1:22 left in the period.
   Khayla Pointer was able to hit two free throws with four seconds left in the first period to pull LSU to within four, 16-12 at the end of the quarter. 

   After cutting the Florida lead to two early in the second period, the Lady Tigers would go into a short shooting slump allowing the Gators to increase their lead to 26-18 at the 5:34 mark.
   Khayla Pointer eventually heated up and took control of the ballgame, scoring seven quick points to help LSU pull to within one, 30-29 with 2:12 left in the first half. 
   After a three point shot by Alberte Rimdal, LSU would score the final four points of the period to tie the contest up at the half, 33-33.
   Kayla Pointer led the Lady Tigers with 11 points at the break, with Autumn Newby and Ryann Payne both adding 6 points each. LSU finished the first half shooting 14-35 from the floor for 40%, 0-2 from behind the three point arc, and 5-5 from the free throw line for 100%. Both teams committed 8 turnovers each, but the Gators out-rebounded LSU 24-22 in the first twenty minutes of play.


   Both teams began the third period hot as a pistol, trading baskets over the first two minutes of play, before Faustine Aifuwa would score back to back baskets to give LSU the lead, 41-38 at the 7:29 mark.
   Khayla Pointer scored on a layup 60 seconds later to increase the LSU lead to five points, 43-38. But the Gators would battle back, pulling to within two points before Jailin Cherry would draw a technical foul, helping Florida go on a 8-0 run to retake the lead, 49-45 with 3:20 left in the third period.
   The Tigers fought back with four straight to pull things even at 49-49 as the contest continued to be an exciting back and fourth battle. 
   The game once again tied up at 51-51 at the 1:55 mark, before the Lady Tigers would outscore Florida 7-3 to end the third period, giving LSU a 58-54 advantage heading into the final period. 

   Two minutes into the fourth period, the game became knotted up at 58-58 as both teams continued to play well at a ferocious pace. 
   The Tigers and Gators continued to trade baskets over the next minute as the game would sit at 62-62 at the officials timeout with 6:33 left in the game. 
   Pointer would score three straight as she hit a single free throw, before banking in a basket off the glass to give LSU a 65-62 lead with 4:52 to go.
   Florida refused to quit as the see-saw battle continued with the Gators fighting back to regain the lead, 66-65, but
Khayla Pointer answered with a beautiful layup to put the Ben-Gals back up, 67-66 with 2:51 left.
   Florida regained the lead on a fast break basket off of a LSU turnover, 68-67 with 1:11 left in the contest. The Gators increased their lead to three, 70-67 with 47 seconds remaining on a huge basket by Zipporah Broughton. Kiara Smith added a free throw to increase the Florida lead to 71-67 before Ryann Payne would hit a jumper cutting it to 71-69. 
   Two more free throws by Broughton put the Gators up by four with six seconds left, giving Florida a huge 73-72 SEC victory after Khayla Pointer hit a three pointer at the buzzer. 

   Khayla Pointer carried the team all game long as she finished with a career high 35 points. Alexis Morris and Ryann Payne both scored 8 points each, while Autumn Newby and Faustine Aifuwa both added 6 points each. 

   With the loss, LSU is now 17-3 overall and 5-2 in the SEC...

   Next up the Lady Tigers will travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday, Jan. 27th. The contest will be televised on SEC Network with tipoff set for 7:30pm
  

Da Boot Sports
1/17/2022
LSU Sports Information
By: LSU Staff


   BATON ROUGE – The No. 12 LSU Women’s Basketball team defeated Vanderbilt, 82-64, to improve to 17-2 and 5-1 in the SEC Sunday afternoon in the ‘We Back Pat’ game inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Commodores played the Tigers tight in the first half as LSU went into the break with a 43-36 lead. LSU came out in the second half on fire though, making its first four shots and outsourcing Vanderbilt 23-9 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
   LSU had offensive production from all over the court Sunday afternoon. Faustine Aifuwa, who was 10-12 shooting the ball, and Alexis Morris (9-13) both had 20 points to lead the Tigers. Khayla Pointer finished with 17 and Jailin Cherry had 12. Cherry led LSU with 8 assists. Pointer had seven assists.
​​   ”People talk about our guards,” Head Coach Kim Mulkey said, “as they should. Sometimes I think they don’t get enough credit on how good they are. When our post play becomes a factor with the guards, who do you stop? What is your game plan against LSU? I think it just makes us a more difficult team to defend.”
   With Autumn Newby, LSU’s leading rebounder out, multiple Tigers stepped up on the boards. Awa Trasi, who started in place of Newby, had 7 rebounds as did Aifuwa, Khayla Pointer and Alexis Morris. Cherry finished with 9 rebounds, one shy of finishing with a double-double.
   LSU shot the ball well at 58.3-percent and held Vanderbilt to 33.8-percent shooting. The Tigers made nine three-pointers. 
   “I look at field goal percentage defense first and we want to hold our opponents to 39.9 (percent),” said Coach Mulkey who’s team is undefeated when doing so. “We haven’t done that in every game. We’ve won some games where we didn’t do that. But if you can just always stress defense and you can always stress rebounding, I’m telling you, you’ll become a good coach.
   “Maybe it’s who I learned from. We’re talking about Pat Summitt, right? Pat Summitt, one of the greatest teachers to ever teach the women’s game. You didn’t play for her if you didn’t play defense, you didn’t play for Leon Barmore if you didn’t play defense.” 
   Brinae Alexander finished with a game-high for Vanderbilt with 23 points. Kaylon Smith had 11 for the Commodores and Iyana Moore had 14 off the bench.
   Morris scored LSU’s first two buckets, but each time Vanderbilt responded and took a 5-4 lead after an and-one finish from Alexander. Pointer went coast-to-coast when Aifuwa deflected a pass in the paint, picked up by Pointer. Aifuwa, who started in place of the injured Autumn Newby and made all three of her first quarter shots, scored her first points at the 5:46 mark in the quarter and then Cherry scored her first points to put LSU up, 12-7. With Vanderbilt playing a 2-2-1 press, LSU looked to push the ball up the court passing the ball. With just over two minutes left in the quarter, Pointer found Aifuwa for a three-quarter court pass that resulted in a wide-open layup against the press that put LSU ahead, 17-12. The Tigers led 21-15 at the end of the quarter. Morris had 8 points in the quarter on 4-of-5 shooting.
   Ryann Payne scored her first points of the game on her first shot attempt to begin the second quarter. She made her second shot too, banking in a three from the right wing with 7:43 left in the half, but Vandy came right back and hit a three as well. Morris gave LSU a 31-22 lead, sinking her first three of the game and the Commodores took a timeout at the 6:43 mark. Aifuwa scored her 10th point and gave LSU its first double-digit lead of the game after Payne found her in transition on a fast break. Timia Ware entered the game with 3:40 left in the half when Pointer picked up her second foul. With Aifuwa picking up her second, LSU finished the half with Cherry, Payne, Morris, Amani Bartlett and Sarah Shematsi on the court. The LSU group scored four quick points, but Vandy’s Moore hit a three with time running down and LSU went into the half with a 43-36 lead. Morris finished with 18 first half points, but Vandy’s five three-pointers helped the Commodores keep it close going into the break.
   Cherry and Pointer made LSU’s first four shot attempts of the half and the Tigers built their largest lead of the game lead to 51-36. Vanderbilt scored its first point of the half on a free-throw after Aifuwa picked up her third foul of the game. Aifuwa put LSU up 53-37, making her seventh shot on as many attempts, before being taken out because of foul trouble. She was quickly brought back in after a 7-0 Vanderbilt run. With Aifuwa back in the Tigers got back in rhythm and took a 57-43 lead into the media timeout. Pointer reached double-digits for the ninth straight game when she drove baseline for an open layup. At the 1:27 mark in the third Pointer found Trasi who hit an 18-foot jumper to give LSU a 64-45 lead before Vandy took a timeout. Out of the timeout Morris got a steal and hit Pointer on an outlet who finished on the other end to give LSU a 21-point lead, 66-45, that the Tigers took into the fourth.
   After opening the game up in the third, LSU kept its foot on the gas throughout the final quarter. Shematsi hit her first three-pointer of the season to put the Tigers over 80 with 2:07 left in the game. Vanderbilt went on a late 7-0 run to reduce its deficit below 20 as LSU won, 82-64.

Da Boot Sports
1/14/2022
By: Jordan Taylor


   BATON ROUGE, LA: The 12th ranked Lady Tigers improved their record to 16-2 overall and 4-1 in the SEC with a thrilling 87-85 overtime victory over Missouri on Thursday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. 
   LSU survived an all out assault by Missouri from behind the three point arc, as the visiting Tigers would go 15-31 for 48%. Lauren Hanson (7 three pointers) and Hayley Frank (6 three pointers), along with Aijha Blackwell's 26 points, helped Mizzou keep pace with LSU all night. 
   Khayla Pointer led the Tigers in scoring tonight with 21 points and her last two points were the biggest as she scored the winning basket in the overtime period with five seconds left on the clock.
   “I had enough confidence in myself to take the last shot and I wanted to win it for us,” Pointer said. 
   
​   Cherry (20 points), Morris (17 points) and Aifuwa (15 points) would all contribute big, hitting big shots throughout the game.  LSU dominated the paint with 42 points in the lane, while also out rebounded Missouri 45-31.
   The 13-3 Missouri Tigers were never intimidated by the Bayou Ben-Gals, as they had already gone toe-to-toe with #1 ranked
South Carolina, upsetting the Cocks in overtime 70-69 in December. 

   "We got rattled when Autumn went down with the injury," Mulkey said. "I hope she's okay. I didn't have a doctor or trainer tell me anything". ... “I love to watch young people compete,” Coach Mulkey added. "Everything about the game tonight I loved. It wasn't an ugly game, it was a well-played game."
   
   
   
   Missouri controlled the opening tip but it would be LSU who would kick off the night's scoring when Jailin Cherry drained
a mid range shot.
   The visiting Tigers would answer right back to tie the game up, before Faustine Aifuwa would get busy in the paint scoring three straight baskets to put LSU up 8-2.
   Mizzou began connecting from three point land late in the first period to keep the contest close, as LSU would lead 24-18 after the first ten minutes of the game.
   LSU began to take control of the game in the second period with tough defense and strong rebounding as they would take a commanding 44-33 lead at halftime.  
   Khayla Pointer led the team at the half with 14 points, while Cherry and Aifuwa both finished the first half with 8 points each. Autumn Newby was a force on the glass in the first half, grabbing ten rebounds during the first 12 minutes of the contest, finishing with 12 boards at the half. 


   Missouri began the third period with aggressive play, hitting shots while playing tough defense as they slowly cut into LSU's lead.
   The Lady Tigers would sputter through most of the period, especially after losing Autumn Newby to a leg injury. At the 5:23 mark, Mizzou had cut the LSU lead to two points, 52-50. However, the home team Tigers scratched and clawed to increase their lead to 62-57 at the end of the third period. 
   Going into the final period, it was obvious that this contest was going to go down to the wire. With five minutes left in the game, LSU looked to be in control of the game, leading 73-66, but Mizzou would go away and battled back to tie the game at 73-73 with 2:54 to go.
   Both teams played even over the final three minutes of regulation as we would head to overtime knotted up at 79-79, after Lauren Hansen missed a layup for the win with two seconds left. 


   LSU controlled the tipoff to begin the overtime period and would score four straight. But Missouri responded with a 4-0 run of their own to tie the game up at 83-83 with 2:58 left on the clock. 
   Alexis Morris drained a go ahead jumper at the one minute mark, putting LSU up, 85-83. With 30 seconds left in the extra period, the Lady Tigers had possession of the ball, but turned it over while trying to inbounds the ball under the Mizzou basket.
   Haley Troup would go to the free throw line for the visiting Tigers with 13 seconds left, hitting both charity shots to once again tie the game up at 85-85. 
   Khayla Pointer took matters into her own hands scoring on a beautiful drive to the basket with five second left. Alexis Morris blocked Mizzou's last second shot attempt to help LSU hold on to a 87-85 thrilling victory. 

   Next up the Lady Tigers are scheduled to host Vanderbilt on Sunday, Jan 16th at 12 noon.... The game will be televised on SEC Network... 

Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi

Da Boot Sports
1/9/2022
By: Terrill J. Weil


   AUBURN, AL: The 13th ranked Lady Tigers improved their record to 15-2 overall and 3-1 in the SEC with a 76-48 victory over the Auburn Lady Tigers at Auburn. 
   LSU opened up the contest on fire and never looked back, as they dominated Auburn for all 40 minutes. 

   “I thought the shoot around at nine o’clock this morning was excellent. Sweating. Getting after it. Excited to be back on that floor. They’re just growing up before your eyes.” said Kim Mulkey.  “You’ve got to go on the road if you want to be a good team and you’ve got to steal some victories, we’ve done that. We’ve gone on the road and we’ve won two (in the SEC). Now what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to protect home court.”

   Khayla Pointer led the Tigers with a double-double scoring 24 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Hannah Guster finished with 13 points,.. Faustine Aifuwa contributed 10 points, while Alexis Morris added 9,... Newby added 8 points and Cherry scored 7 in the game. 
   LSU dominated in the paint as they out-rebounded Auburn 50-35 while scoring 42 points in the lane. With such dominating play near the goal, the Lady Tigers only needed to attempt seven three point shots in the contest, hitting three of them. 


   LSU controlled the opening tip and scored quickly on a basket by Autumn Newby, putting the Bayou Ben-Gals up 2-0. Auburn would answer 17 seconds later with a jumper by Sania Wells, 2-2 with 9:29 on the clock.
   With LSU leading 5-4 at the 7:13 mark, the Lady Tigers would go on a 15-2 run over the next four minutes taking a 20-6 lead with 2:49 left in the first period.
   The Lady Tigers continued to play strong defense while playing offensively at a furious pace, as they would hold a 26-8 lead at the end of the first period.

   Auburn scored first to start the second period on a basket by Honesty Scoot-Grayson, but LSU continued to have their way against the home team out-scoring Auburn, 10-4 over the next four minutes, increasing their lead to 22 points, 36-14 with 7:02 left in the first half.
   The home Tigers would begin to keep pace with the Ben-Gals over the next five minutes, but couldn't gain any ground as LSU continued to shoot well, holding a 39-19 lead with 2:41 left in the second period.
   After cooling off a bit to finish during the final two minutes of the period, LSU would hold a 40-21 lead at halftime.
   Khayla Pointer scored 13 points to led the Lady Tigers at the half, while Faustine Aifuwa added 8 points. Alexis Morris, Hannah Gusters, and Jailin Cherry each finished the first half with 5 points each.. 
   LSU shot well over the first 20 minutes, going 16-34 from the floor for 47%, while going 2-4 from behind the three point line for 50%. LSU also out-rebounded Auburn, 24-16....


   Halfway through the third period both teams had played even as LSU maintained their 19 point lead, 50-31 at the 5:47 mark. With LSU still in total command of the contest, Kim Mulkey began to work bench players into the game. The only starter remaining in the game to finish off the third would be Pointer, as LSU would take a 61-41 lead into the fourth period.

   Leading by 20, Mulkey began the fourth period with her starting five, as they remained in complete control over the home Tigers, going on a 10-0 run over the first five minutes of the period to take a 71-41 advantage with 4:59 left in the game.
   Mulkey would again empty the bench to finish off the contest...

   Next up for the Lady Tigers will be a home game against Missouri on Thursday, Jan. 13th at 7:00pm... 

Da Boot Sports
1/7/2022
By: David Penn


​     Baton Rouge, LA - Legendary LSU Tiger Seimone Augustus had over 9,000 fans on their feet as LSU honored the Tiger great on Thursday night before the 13th ranked LSU Lady Tigers (14-2, 2-1) would do battle with the #1 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks (14-1, 2-1) in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. A contest that very well could be a preview of the 2022 SEC Championship game. 
   
   The top ranked Gamecocks would stifle a late LSU rally and pull out the win, 66-60. Coach Mulkey said after the game, “That was the difference in the game (rebounding) and I knew it would be. That’s big girl basketball. You have to give them credit, you’re in there battling and they just get them.” Mulkey also said that LSU fought to the bitter end but “sometimes you’re just not good enough to win that game," but that LSU has come a long way.
   
​   The Lady Tigers started the game with hot hands making each of their first 7 shots and opened up a 19-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Gamecocks held a 19-11 advantage in rebounding but the Lady Tigers were tough on defense and forced the South Carolina into 13 turnovers in the first half to help LSU take a 34-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.
    
   The Gamecocks would storm back in the third quarter with a 17-4 run and take a 3 point lead with 4:37 to play going ahead 41-38. The Tigers continued to play good defense but the big disparity that developed over the game was how well the Gamecocks rebounded the ball and score with ease under the basket, forcing the Tigers into foul trouble. Despite that, LSU only trailed by 3 heading into the final quarter setting up a fight to the final buzzer.
    
   As valiantly as the Lady Tigers fought in the final period, the closest that LSU could get was within 3 points with South Carolina doing their part on the defensive boards to deny LSU second shot opportunities.
   
   The Gamecocks held a 48-24 advantage in rebounding and had 32 attempts from the free throw line while LSU only
attempted 7 from the goodwill stripe.

   LSU was led in scoring by Khayla Pointer with 22 points while Alexis Morris finished with 14 points, and Faustine Aifuwa added 12 on the night. The Gamecocks were led by Aliyah Boston's 19 points and 18 rebounds,.. Zia Cooke finished with 17 points and Destanni Henderson added 16 points for the Cocks.
    
   Next up LSU will travel to Auburn (8-5) on Sunday, Jan. 9th. Tipoff is set for 4:00pm. The game will be televised on SEC Network. 

Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi

Photos Below By: Jonathan Mailhes

Da Boot Sports
1/2/2022
By: Terrill J. Weil


   BATON ROUGE, LA: The 19th ranked LSU Lady Tigers improved to 14-1 as they defeated the 23rd ranked Texas A&M Lady Aggies, 75-66 in a hard fought SEC battle in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday afternoon. 
   Leading by two, 58-56 with only 6:01 left in the game, LSU would turn up their intensity on defense while finally getting their outside shooting and fast break scoring to heat up to take control of the game. 
   A&M would struggle late against the Lady Tigers' tough man-to-man defensive pressure. As the Aggies began to miss shots, LSU began to control the boards, outscoring A&M, 17-10 to pull away for the victory. 
   Alexis Morris had a big game, leading the team with 30 points. Khayla Pointer made huge shots in the 4th period, helping to lead the Lady Tigers' final run, scoring 17 points on the day. Jailin Cherry finished with 10 points and played very well defensively. 
   The win was LSU's 13th consecutive win, as they are now 14-1 overall and 2-0 in SEC play. 


   The Lady Tigers controlled the opening tip and took a quick 3-0 lead on a three point shot by Khayla Pointer. Four minutes later LSU would cling to a one point advantage, 8-7 after Jordan Nixon hit a three point shot for the Aggies at the 5:47 mark.
   LSU outscored Texas A&M 8-4 over the final six minutes to take a 16-11 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. 

   The Lady Aggies began to chip away at the LSU lead early in the second quarter, pulling even 19-19 with 7:09 left in the first half.
   Both teams continued to battle each other at a ferocious pace, playing each other even over the next five minutes as the score sat at 27-27 with 2:49 to go.
   A&M would go on a 6-0 run to take a 33-27 lead with 2:03 left in the half after Destiny Pitts and Kayla Wells each hit from behind the three point arc. 
   Khayla Pointer would hit a jumper at the buzzer to pull LSU to within 33-29 at the half.

   Texas A&M would control the game throughout the third quarter, but LSU would outscore the Aggies 7-2 over the final 2:12 of the period to pull LSU to within three points, 49-46.

   The Lady Aggies scored quickly to begin the 4th period on a layup by Jada Malone to increase their lead to 51-46. However, LSU would answer with a 8-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 54-51 lead with 8:22 left in the contest before shifting into another gear to pull away. 

   Next up for the Lady Tigers will be a matchup in the PMAC against the #1 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday, Jan. 6th at 7:00pm