GREENVILLE, S.C. — By the 2:00 mark of the first quarter, LSU women's basketball's Aneesah Morrow, Flau'jae Johnson, Hailey Van Lith and Auburn star guard Honesty Scott-Grayson all spent time picking themselves up off the floor.

Bodies careened onto the court early and often as the physicality between No. 2 seed LSU and No. 7 Auburn, already on display during the regular season, ratcheted up to another level with more at stake at the SEC Tournament.

Despite the roughhousing, LSU took Auburn's best physical shot and reciprocated with its best shot on the scoreboard, building a fast 21-0 lead in the first quarter en route a 78-48 victory in the tournament quarterfinals Friday inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

For the second straight year, LSU (27-4) advances to the semis, where it'll meet the winner of No. 4 Ole Miss and No. 11 Florida.

LSU women's basketball gets off to record start

There was no rust or wear from not having played the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament.

LSU came out the locker room smoking, hitting nine of its 14 shots in the opening period, jumping out to a 21-0 lead. Defensively, Kim Mulkey's squad set the tone as it stifled and disrupted Auburn all game long. In the early going, Auburn couldn't find the bottom of the net, going 1 for 17 in the first quarter.

The hot start on both ends of the floor helped LSU race out to a 27-5 lead by the end of the first 10 minutes, breaking the SEC Tournament record for largest point margin after the first quarter at 22.

Flau'jae Johnson, Angel Reese shine in SEC Tournament quarterfinals

LSU scored 43 first-half points. More than half of those came from stars Angel Reese and Johnson, who combined for 27 points.

Johnson, who was tasked with guarding Scott-Grayson, let her defense turn into quick offense. She collected four steals by halftime and accounted for several of LSU's 18 points it scored off Auburn turnovers.

Reese got off to an ideal start, scoring the game's first four points and shot 5 of 10 for 10 points in the first half. Reese was just as efficient on the defensive end of the floor as Auburn post players Savannah Scott, Yakiya Milton and Taylen Collins couldn't find much room to work around the 6-foot-3 junior.

Johnson finished with a game-high 25 points and Reese recorded another double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Arguably, Johnson's most important feat was holding Scott-Grayson, Auburn's top scorer, to just two points for the game.

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Reese, Aneesah Morrow shut down Auburn's post players

Auburn is a guard-oriented team on offense but it was going to need something from its post players to have a shot against LSU.

Reese and Morrow were having none of it. The duo, along with freshman center Aalyah Del Rosario, limited Auburn's four bigs to just 9 points on 3-for-10 shooting.

LSU bested Auburn in paint points 34 to 16.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Angel Reese, Flau'jae Johnson and LSU women's basketball maul Auburn