LSU No. 12’s Reese leads the charge past George Mason

BIMINI, Bahamas – The LSU women’s basketball show hit the road Thursday as the No. 12 Tigers (6-0) defeated George Mason (3-4), 80-52 in their first game of the Goombay Splash at The Bimini, Bahamas .

Angel Reese led the Tigers with 21 points and 19 rebounds as she earned her sixth straight double-double to start her LSU career. She had at least 15 rebounds in each of the past five games and had a career-high 19 in two straight games. Freshman forward Sa’Myah Smith came off the bench for a career-high 14 points and forward LaDazhia Williams scored 13 as the LSU poles were dominant.

“We wanted to get the ball inside early and we did that,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “I have to go back and watch the movie and ask if we didn’t put the ball there in the second half.”

Alexis Morris finished with 13 points and rookie Flau’jae Johnson had 10 as she has consistently scored in double figures in every game of her college career so far.

LSU’s back-to-back streak ended Thursday at five games as the Tigers failed to reach the century mark. At least one NCAA DI team had a six-game 100-point streak and that was the 1981-82 Louisiana Tech team Mulkey was a player on.

The Patriots were led by Sonia Smith with 15 and Taylor Jameson with 11. Thirty of George Mason’s 66 field goal attempts came from behind the arc, but the Patriots shot only 20 percent from downtown.

LSU showed their talent in the first half, taking a quick and explosive lead. But George Mason responded in the second half, scoring 33 points in the final two quarters.

“We forced a lot of missed shots (in the first half),” coach Mulkey said. “We gave them a chance in the first half and we went out and ran. We didn’t in the second half and their defense didn’t change.

The Tigers started the game on an early 8-0 run and half of those points came from the free throw line as Reese and Johnson both started 2-2 at the boards. In the first five minutes of the game, Reese had 6 points and 6 rebounds, looking for his sixth consecutive double-double. Reese finished the quarter with 10 points and 8 rebounds as the Tigers finished the quarter with a 27-9 lead.

Just four minutes into the second quarter, Reese grabbed his tenth rebound and earned his sixth double-double in six games as a Tiger. LSU finished the quarter on a 10-1 run to give the Tigers a 29-minute lead before halftime, 48-19. Morris scored 10 in the first half.

In the first two quarters, the Tigers shot 65.5% from the field and held the Patriots to 24.2%. LSU scored 32 of its points in the paint and added 10 more turnovers. The Tigers dominated in the paint on both sides as they forced the Patriots offense to take peripheral shots late in the shot clock. George Mason went 2-16 from three in the first half and scored just 10 points in the paint.

After a slow start to the third quarter, LSU extended its lead to 34 points. Both teams found themselves on the line as there were 11 combined personal fouls committed in the third. George Mason went 4-4 and LSU went 7-8. LSU gave up 18 points in the third and headed into the final quarter with a 71-37 lead.

George Mason, however, refused to take it easy as the Patriots fought hard in the fourth quarter, making it difficult for the Tigers to score and rebound relentlessly on both sides of the ball. LSU held on for its sixth straight win out of the gates, however.

“The fatigue set in,” explained Coach Mulkey. “We need to get in better shape. We didn’t defend well in the second half and didn’t come back strong and I think George Mason was just a bit harsh on them in the fourth quarter.”

Next

With the win, LSU will face UAB on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. This game will also be streamed on FloHoops. UAB and George Mason will play Friday afternoon.