By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The No. 6 LSU women’s basketball team defeated Florida 89-60 behind another dominant defensive performance to win its fifth straight game on Monday evening at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.
Florida sophomore guard Liv McGill went into Monday’s matchup ranked No. 5 in the nation in scoring, averaging 23.4 points a contest. LSU held her to just 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting. McGill’s 14 points tied for her lowest in conference play this season.
“I think I did a pretty good job of guarding her, so I’m really just whatever my team needs, whether that’s scoring, defending, rebounding, whatever we need to win,” sophomore guard Jada Richard said after the win.”
As a team, LSU (19-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) held Florida (13-9, 1-6 SEC) to just 36.8% shooting on the evening, forcing the Gators to turn the ball over 17 times.
Richard led the Tigers in scoring with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting (60%). Head coach Kim Mulkey said she has always known Richard could shoot the ball well but has been most impressed with her defense as of late.
“You can talk about Jada and all the things she means to our team right now, but the one thing that probably is most impressive is she’s had to guard some of the best guards in this league and she just never gets tired and she figures it out,” Mulkey said after the win on Monday.
Senior forward Amiya Joyner recorded her second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Mulkey said she was proud of Joyner’s productivity in the win.
“I told her in practice today, ‘If you don’t get enough touches because they’re not throwing it to you, do what? Go to the boards. Go get your own rebounds. Go get missed shots,'” Mulkey said. “She’s done it the last two games. She did a tremendous job the last game and this game and I’m proud of her.”
LSU’s lead grew to 23 in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter after freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnson made one-of-two free throws. The Tigers outscored the Gators 26-15 in the final ten minutes of the game.
Freshman forward Grace Knox opened up scoring in the second half with a nice finish at the rim through contact to give LSU the 38-29 lead with 9:30 remaining. The Tigers’ lead grew to 19 after Richard knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:06 remaining. Heading into the final ten minutes, LSU held a comfortable 63-45 lead. Richard caught fire in the third, scoring 12 points in the period.
The defense intensified in the second quarter. After a two-minute scoring drought for both teams, Florida tied the game at 22-22 after hitting a three-point shot. Florida took a 27-26 lead with 5:45 to play before halftime. The Tigers regained the lead after senior guard Flau’jae Johnson hit a midrange jumper to make it 28-27. From there, LSU finished the quarter with an 8-2 run to go into halftime with a 36-29 lead. Joyner had a team-high 6 points in the period. LSU turned the ball over 9 times.
LSU and Florida traded buckets in the opening minutes of Monday’s matchup. The Tigers would gain a six-point lead after junior guard Mikaylah Williams hit a three-point shot in transition to make it 12-6 with 5:53 remaining in the quarter. McGill scored the Gators’ first six points of the game. Florida cut the lead to just one point after junior forward Jade Weathersby hit a wide-open corner three to make it 20-19 with just a minute go. Richard converted on a contested layup to beat the buzzer to give the Tigers a 22-19 lead going into the second quarter.
The Tigers have a quick turnaround as they will host Arkansas (11-10, 0-6 SEC) on Thursday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7 p.m., SEC Network+).
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