No. 13 LSU women's basketball roasts Vanderbilt on the road
LSU women's basketball's defense pitched a near-flawless start to the game Thursday inside Memorial Gymnasium.
Vanderbilt managed two made field goals in the first 10 minutes as the No. 13 Tigers roared early and often, disrupting everything the Commodores aimed to do.
While its defense controlled the game, LSU converted turnovers into plenty of points, building a 22-7 advantage early en route to running away from Vanderbilt, 85-62.
With the triumph, Kim Mulkey and the Tigers (20-4, 7-3) have won back-to-back games.
LSU women's basketball suffocates Vanderbilt
By halftime, LSU had six steals, four blocks, forced eight turnovers from Vandy that it cashed into 14 early points.
Because of the presence of LSU's dynamic post duo of stars Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow, Vanderbilt (17-7, 4-6) settled for a bevy of outside shots. Those were not falling and when the Dores tried to work inside, LSU's defense crashed to the ball and forced miscues from Vandy — led by Morrow's five steals.
On the season, Vanderbilt averaged 34% shooting. LSU limited it to 19% in the first half and 31% for the game. Five different LSU players recorded at least one block
Angel Reese gets in early foul trouble. Kim Mulkey works different rotations
Reese picked up her second foul with seconds left in the first quarter, recording eight points and eight rebounds by the time of her exit.
Kim Mulkey subbed in freshman center Aalyah Del Rosario while also working freshman sensation Mikaylah Williams down onto the baseline some with Morrow. Williams collected six rebounds to go along with four points. With Hailey Van Lith, Flauj'ae Johnson and Last-Tear Poa rotating in and out at the guard spots, there were instances in which Mulkey had three and sometimes four first-year players on the court at the same time.
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LSU struggled on the offensive end with the different rotations, but the team remained locked in on the defensive end.
Reese finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds while Johnson had 17, Morrow scored 13 points with 10 boards and Van Lith rallied from a slow start to post 13 points.
LSU locks up rebound battle
The size advantage leaned on LSU's side with Reese and Del Rosario, at 6-foot-6, over Vanderbilt and its bigs in Sacha Washington and Aiyana Mitchell.
And the Tigers dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Commodores 57 to 35. They more than doubled up Vandy on the offensive boards, 25 to 10, and turned those into 32 second-chance points, both of those stats season-highs for LSU.
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: No. 13 LSU women's basketball roasts Vanderbilt on the road