By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
For the fourth consecutive year, Kim Mulkey and her LSU women’s basketball team are advancing to the Sweet 16. Second-seeded LSU defeated seventh-seeded Texas Tech 101-47 behind suffocating defense on Sunday afternoon inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (29-5, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) held Texas Tech (26-8, 12-6 Big 12 Conference) to its lowest field goal percentage of the season at 25. 4 percent (16-of-63). It was also the second lowest field goal percentage LSU has ever held a team to in an NCAA Tournament game.
After scoring 100 points for the 16th time this season, LSU solely holds the NCAA record for most 100-point games in a single season.
Senior guard Flau’jae Johnson did not disappoint in her last game ever in Baton Rouge. She led the way for the Tigers, scoring 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. She also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Flau'jae Johnson checks out for her final time as an LSU Tiger at the PMAC ❤️ pic.twitter.com/AIYdRoxE6u
— ESPN (@espn) March 22, 2026
Junior guard Mikaylah Williams was also unstoppable on Sunday. She also scored 24 points on an efficient 9-of-15 shooting. Williams added seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.
LSU will take on either third-seeded Duke (25-8, 16-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) or sixth-seeded Baylor (28-8, 15-3 Big 12 Conference) in the Sweet 16 on Friday or Saturday at a time to be determined inside the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
LSU opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to take a commanding 84-32 lead with 8:05 left to play. The Tigers outscored the Lady Raiders 25-15 in the final period.
Texas Tech started the scoring off in the third quarter, but it would not spark anything. After Tech’s opening bucket, LSU went on a 13-0 run to take a 56-27 lead with 6:23 to go. The Tigers did not let their foot off the gas. Mulkey’s squad took a 76-32 lead going into the final ten minutes of the game after shooting 64.3 percent from the field in the quarter. LSU held Texas Tech to just 3-of-22 shooting in the third.
The Tigers opened the first five minutes of the second quarter on a dominant 12-0 run to give them a 31-14 lead. Texas Tech stopped the bleeding when Denae Fritz knocked down a wide-open corner three to make it 31-17 with 4:23 to go before the break. Later, Flau’jae Johnson continued to hurt the Lady Raiders in transition as she was able to convert on a contested layup to make it 40-22. The Tigers went into halftime with a 43-25 lead. Williams erupted for 10 points in the quarter.
LSU picked up right where it left off on Friday as soon as the ball was tipped. ZaKiyah Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and went right back up with a layup to give the Tigers their first points of the game. LSU then turned defense into offense in the next two minutes. The Raiders were held to no points on 0-of-3 shooting through the first three minutes. LSU capitalized and took an early 10-0 lead with six minutes to play in the period.
Texas Tech was not going to go that easy, though. The Lady Raiders hit back-to-back threes to cut LSU’s lead to four points with 4:44 to play. Texas Tech made it a one possession game after Maupin knocked down a pair of three free throws. The two teams traded buckets for the remaining two minutes of the quarter and LSU led 19-14 after one. The Tigers held the Lady Raiders to 3-of-14 shooting.
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