LSU women pick up lopsided win over Florida on the road | LSU

The LSU women’s basketball team will be undefeated when it faces No. 2 South Carolina.

On Sunday, the 80-63 victory ensured that the Tigers’ no. 5 (20-0, 5-0) picked up on the road over Florida, them about that fact.

Mikaylah Williams, Flau’jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow combined to build a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter that propelled LSU to its lopsided victory. Johnson started the scoring by hitting an open jumper and Morrow punctuated by converting an easy layup. Meanwhile, the Tigers shot 8 of 9 from the field while forcing Florida to miss its first six shots of the frame.

LSU played two close Southeastern Conference games before traveling to Gainesville, Fla., to face the Gators (11-9, 2-4). A last-second shot lifted the Tigers to a two-point victory over No. 15 at Tennessee on Jan. 9, then a late surge of offense propelled them to a six-point home win over Vanderbilt on Monday.

On Sunday, LSU won by a more comfortable margin.

And this time its defense was the key to victory.

Florida converted just 9 of the 28 field goals it attempted in the second and third quarters, a stretch LSU won 44-27. The Tigers forced the Gators into 24 turnovers, then capitalized on 35 points from those giveaways. Overall, Florida shot just 38% from the field and became the second SEC team this season to hit less than 40% of its shots in a game against LSU.

In the third quarter, the Tigers ran most of their offense through Williams, the sophomore star who finished with 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting and 8 rebounds. Morrow chipped in 20 points and 10 boards and Johnson added 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting, but the LSU bench managed just 11 points and finished with fewer than 12 for the second straight game.

Freshman guard Liv McGill led Florida with 21 points and 6 assists. Freshman Me’Arah O’Neal, daughter of LSU great Shaquille O’Neal, grabbed 7 rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

LSU started the game with a quick 7-0 run. But then Florida called a timeout, began dribbling penetration, hitting shots and slowing down the Tigers’ half-court offense with a zone defense. In the first half, LSU trailed by as many as six points and went into halftime with just a 37-33 lead.

After that, the Tigers played sharper defense, which ignited their transition offense, fueling their dominant second half that added another win on top of their second-best start in program history.

Kim Mulkey has now won at least 20 games in each of his 25 seasons as a head coach.

And Morrow has now posted her 92nd career double-double, moving her into a tie with former Oregon forward Jillian Alleyne for the second most in NCAA Division I history. LSU’s win over Florida was the 123rd contest of her career.

Next, the Tigers will hit the road to play the most anticipated game of their regular season.

That matchup, a likely top-five showdown with No. 2 South Carolina, will tip off at 7 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.

This story will be updated.