Flau’jae Johnson takes a hard look at LSU’s narrow win against Vanderbilt

Flau’jae Johnson delivered a strong performance in the fourth quarter to lead No. 5 LSU women’s basketball to an 83-77 victory over Vanderbilt on Monday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Despite the win, Johnson didn’t shy away from it criticizing the effort of her team.

“We should have started better today, for sure,” Johnson said, per Reed Darcy of The Times-Picayune | New Orleans lawyer. “But this is the SEC. Every game is going to be tough, but we made the game tougher than it needed to be.”

LSU (19-0, 4-0 SEC) trailed by three points early in the fourth quarter. Johnson, who scored 14 points through three quarters, stepped up, scoring 11 of her 25 points in the final period. Her clutch play, including two critical layups in the final minutes, helped the Tigers regain the lead and hold off the Commodores.

Senior forward Aneesah Morrow and sophomore Mikailah Williams also played key roles in the win. Morrow, who recorded 23 points and 15 rebounds, reached a historical milestonebecoming just the eighth player in NCAA women’s basketball history with 2,500 career points and 1,500 rebounds, as reported by Corey Diaz of The Daily Advertiser. Williams added 20 points, including 11 in a dominant third quarter that kept LSU within striking distance.

Junior forward Sa’Miah Smith returned to the starting lineup after seven games, contributing on both ends with four points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

LSU Women’s Basketball struggles consistently against the Commodores

The Tigers struggled to find consistency early, falling behind multiple times and never leading by more than four points in the fourth quarter. Johnson’s late-game heroics secured the win, but LSU head coach Kim Mulcahy is likely to point out a stronger start in future games, calling the matchup against Vanderbilt “a scrimmage.”

“It was a dogfight,” Mulcahy said. “What made it a dogfight?” Well, it put them at the foul line 22 times and did it early, missing our shots. But if you look at every quarter, we didn’t shoot the ball bad every quarter. We shot the ball significantly more than them. They just had an efficient offense.”

With the win, LSU extended its season-opening winning streak to 19 games. Vanderbilt’s Zanai Jones led the Commodores with 21 points.

LSU now prepares for its next game, against Arkansas on Thursday.