No. 7 LSU routs Charleston Southern

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Mikaylah Williams scored 25 points and Aneesah Morrow had 21 points and 20 rebounds to lead No. 7 LSU to a 117-44 victory over Charleston Southern on Tuesday afternoon.

Flau’jae Johnson added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (3-0), surpassing 1,000 points for her career. Arizona transfer Kailyn Gilbert had 14 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds, and Arkansas transfer Jersey Wolfenbarger contributed 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Catherine Alben led the Buccaneers (0-4) with 15 points.

Takeaways

Charleston Southern: The visiting Buccaneers, who never led in their season opener at No. 16 North Carolina on Nov. 4, took a 5-0 lead over LSU in the first 90 seconds before the Tigers’ depth and defensive pressure took command.

LSU: The Tigers’ defensive tenacity has been relentless. LSU has held opponents to single digits in five of its last eight quarters. They haven’t allowed more than 16 points in a quarter.

Key moment

So far this season, one solid stretch of defense by the Tigers early in games has put opponents in a hole they can’t overcome. Charleston missed 15 of 16 shots in a 6:30 stretch of the first quarter when the Buccaneers were outscored 19-2 to eventually trail 24-9 at the end of the period and 56-22 at halftime.

Key stat

Because Baton Rouge-area schools accounted for the majority of the crowd of 11,095 on LSU’s annual Field Trip game, the decibel level in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center was over 110 most of the day, comparable on the decibel level chart to a loud rock concert.

Up next

Charleston Southern plays at Charlotte next Monday night. LSU hosts Murray State on Friday night, the fourth of six consecutive home games for the Tigers to open the season.

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