Morrow sets LSU tourney record with 36 points, No. 9 Tigers beat Florida to reach SEC semis

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Aneesah Morrow scored 36 points on 15-of-21 shooting while hauling in 14 rebounds as ninth-ranked LSU defeated Florida 101-87 on Friday night to reach the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

The senior forward's 36 points were the most ever by an LSU player in conference tournament history and tied for the ninth-most overall.

Mikaylah Williams chipped in with 16 points and eight assists for the Tigers, who played without leading scorer Flau’jae Johnson, who is out for the tournament with a shin injury.

The Tigers (28-4) didn’t need their star on this night.

Morrow set the tone in the first half with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and nine rebounds, helping the Tigers build a 53-34 halftime lead. Most of Morrow’s points came on feeds to the low post, mid-range jumpers and off of offensive rebounds.

Liv McGill had 16 points and Jeriah Warren had 14 to lead Florida (16-17).

Takeaways

Florida: The Gators lacked the height and body size to match up against Morrow and LSU made them pay repeatedly with passes into the low post for easy baskets.

LSU: The Tigers were 22 of 28 from the foul line.

Key moment

Kailyn Gilbert made a twisting, underhand layup between two defenders and drew a foul for a three-point play to put Tigers up by 15 with 21 seconds remaining in the third quarter, thwarting a Gators rally.

Key stat

LSU outscored Florida 46-28 in the paint.

Up next

LSU will face No. 1 Texas, a 70-63 winner over Mississippi, in Saturday's semifinals. Florida's season is over.

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