Tigers to the Sweet 16!

Mar 20, 2023 - 2:35 AM

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The Angel Reese Game.

That’s how I’ll forever remember LSU’s 66-42 win over Michigan in Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Round of 32 game. Reese went off to the tune of 25 points, 24 rebounds, 6 blocks, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

Behind Reese’s dominant presence inside, a massive rebounding disparity, and suffocating defense, LSU advanced to its first Sweet 16 since 2014. Reese left the game early in the first quarter after taking an elbow to the face that bloodied her lip. But Reese checked back in at the next clock stoppage and proceeded to bloody Michigan, and nearly had as many rebounds by herself, 24, as Michigan’s entire team, 26.

Last year LSU ran into a different Big 10 team, Ohio State, who seemingly couldn’t miss from three. This time around, LSU put the clamps on Michigan, holding the Wolverines to 16/46 from the floor, and 4/13 from three.

LSU wasn’t exactly the 2017 Golden State Warriors on offense though as the Tigers as a team shot 24 of 68 from the floor. In fact one big reason why LSU had such a rebounding advantage (46-26) is because they missed a ton of point blank shots. But Michigan couldn’t make LSU pay for all the misses and LSU wound up with 18 second chance points while the Wolverines had two.

Jasmine Carson gave LSU a spark on offense in the second quarter with three three-pointers, while Alexis Morris came alive in the second half and shot 4-7 from the floor.

This 2022-2023 season is the best year LSU’s had in women’s basketball since Seimone and Sylvia wore the purple and gold. These Tigers are now 30-2, went undefeated at home, and are playing in the tournament’s second weekend for the first time in nearly a decade; and I’d argue this program is still ahead of schedule. If it wasn’t evident prior to tonight it can’t be denied anymore: the Tigers are once again a women’s basketball school.

LSU will head back to Greenville to take on Utah, the region’s 2-seed, in the Sweet 16. The Tigers and Utes will play Friday, March 24 at a time to be announced later.