LSU Women’s Basketball Wins 6th Straight, Defeating Arkansas 92-70 On Thursday

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

The No. 6 LSU women’s basketball team extended its win streak to six on Thursday night after defeating Arkansas 92-70 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

“I just didn’t think we started the game playing as hard as we could play,” head coach Kim Mulkey said after the win. “And when you play as hard as you can play, good things happen. And I think we just picked up the intensity, picked up the pace and just played more with a sense of urgency and focus.”

LSU’s offense had no trouble in this one, shooting an impressive 45.9% after making 39-of-85 shots. Although the Tigers didn’t struggle on offense, their defense allowed the Razorbacks to shoot 13-of-30 from beyond the arc – the most three-pointers surrendered by LSU in conference play.

The Tigers (20-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) showed off their depth in the 22-point victory over Arkansas (11-11, 0-7 SEC) as six Tigers scored 10 or more points: junior guard Mikaylah Williams (17), senior guard Flau’jae Johnson (17), sophomore guard Jada Richard (12), sophomore forward Kate Koval (12), freshman forward Grace Knox (12) and freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnson (11).

Koval recorded a double-double coming off the bench, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. She was a force on the defensive end of the floor, blocking five shots with three steals.

Arkansas made four of its first five three-point shots to open up the fourth and final quarter of the night, but LSU’s No. 1 scoring offense proved to be too much for the Razorbacks. At the five-minute mark, freshman forward Grace Knox was able to finish through contact with the foul after grabbing her own miss to give the Tigers an 86-65 lead. LSU outscored Arkansas 23-20 in the period.  

LSU caught fire to start the second half, opening the third quarter on an 11-0 run. Flau’jae Johnson led the charge, scoring nine of the team’s first 13 points of the quarter on 4-of-4 shooting. Late on, Richard hit a three-point shot in transition to extend the Tigers’ lead to 18 with 5:45 to go. LSU was able to finish the quarter strong, carrying a comfortable 69-50 lead into the final ten minutes of the game. The Tigers shot 70.2% in the quarter, making 12-of-17 shots.

In the opening five minutes of the second quarter, LSU and Arkansas combined to score only 11 points. Both teams traded buckets, but the Tigers took the 30-27 lead with about four minutes remaining. Later, Williams hit two midrange jumpers on back-to-back possessions to give the Tigers a 36-28 lead with 2:04 to go before halftime. Just when it looked like LSU was going on a run, Arkansas responded with a 5-0 run. The Tigers led 36-33 at the half. Williams had 8 points in the period.

The Razorbacks came into Thursday night’s contest winless in the SEC, but it didn’t stop them from starting hot against the Tigers. After knocking down four of its first three-point shots, Arkansas led LSU 18-12 with 3:47 remaining in the quarter. LSU was able to finish out the quarter on a 10-4 run after ZaKiyah Johnson grabbed a miss in transition and went right back up with it. The Tigers and Razorbacks were tied 22-22 heading into the second quarter. ZaKiyah Johnson scored a team-high 7 points in the period.

LSU has a quick turnaround as the Tigers host No. 24 Alabama (19-3, 5-3 SEC) on Sunday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (11 a.m., SEC Network) in what will be its third game of the week.