BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU coach Kim Mulkey pledged that she wouldn’t let an impending Washington Post “hit piece” about her derail the defending national champion Tigers during the women’s NCAA Tournament.
A dominant second-half surge, led by star forward and Baltimore native Angel Reese and dynamic guard Flau’Jae Johnson, proved Mulkey right — at least for now.
Reese’s 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Johnson’s 21 points, helped third-seeded LSU pull away for an 83-56, second-round victory over No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee on Sunday.
“Listen, man, we’re not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we’re trying to do. Absolutely not,” Mulkey said. “My kids didn’t even know I said that yesterday. That team is not involved in this. They were in shock when they saw all that on the internet.”
Mulkey grabbed headlines when she railed against the Washington Post and even threatened legal action.
Reese said Sunday that she didn’t know anything about that, but other teammates did.
“Coach Mulkey’s had our back all year, so we’ve got to have coach Mulkey’s back,” said forward Aneesah Morrow, who scored 19 points. “We’ve got to play hard and for one another — and that’s as simple as it is.”
LSU trailed by nine in the third quarter before surging to a comfortable second-half lead and ended the Blue Raiders’ 20-game winning streak.
“I didn’t want to let my team down,” said Reese, who had a long embrace with Mulkey on the sideline when she checked out in the final minutes.
Reese also noted that she might have played her last game on LSU’s home court because she hasn’t decided whether to turn pro after this season.
“So, I did whatever it takes to win,” Reese said. “And me and coach have that kind of relationship where she can get on me and talk to me, like, ‘I need you,’ and give me that encouragement that I need.”
MTSU (30-5) led 41-32 and looked primed to widen the gap when Reese tripped over a fallen teammate on an attempted layup and crashed to the court, sending the Blue Raiders on a 5-on-4 break the other way.
But Jalynn Gregory’s open 3 bounced off the back rim to LSU guard Last-Tear Poa, who fired the ball down court, where Reese had just gotten up and made an uncontested layup.
That play spawned a 10-0 run, fueled in part by Mikaylah Williams’ pull-up jumper in transition and her left corner 3, which put the Tigers back in front, 42-41.
“One possession can change everything,” Reese said. “That could have been the possession.”
Later in the quarter, Johnson forced a turnover by tying up MTSU’s Ta’Mia Scott, followed that up with a 3, and later hit a bail-out, fall-away jumper as the shot clock expired.
“Everybody was going to have to suck it up and get down and do whatever it takes,” said Johnson, whose triumphant gesticulations after each big play stirred the packed crowd into a deafening frenzy.
“We just had energy. I mean, I feel like everybody felt that shift,” Johnson continued. “My stomach was bubbling. I said, ‘I ain’t going home.’”
LSU wound up outscoring Middle Tennessee 27-8 during the final 8:22 of the third quarter to take a 59-49 lead on Reese’s layup. The Tigers went up by as many as 30 points after that.
“If they decide to play the rest of the year like they did the second half, they’re going to be tough,” MTSU coach Rick Insell said. “I’ve watched a lot of film on them. That second half was about as good as I’ve seen them play this year. … If they decide to do that, they’re going to have another chance to hang another flag.”
MTSU 6-foot-6 starting center Anastasiia Boldyreva scored nine points and blocked three shots, but fouled out just before the end of third quarter.
Savannah Wheeler, the Conference USA Player of the Year, scored 21 and Scott scored 15 for Middle Tennessee, which lost for the first time since Dec. 30.
Williams added 16 for LSU, which jumped out to a 24-15 lead before slipping in the second quarter. The Blue Raiders outrebound the Tigers 25-18 in the first half and led 36-32 at halftime.
In other women’s NCAA Tournament games on Sunday:
South Carolina 88, North Carolina 41
COLUMBIA, S.C. | Freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley had 20 points including four 3-pointers, Kamilla Cardoso had a double-double in her return from a one-game suspension and unbeaten South Carolina powered into its 10th straight Sweet 16.
The top overall seed Gamecocks (34-0) needed everything they had to escape with single-digit wins the past two times they faced the Tar Heels (20-13). This time, South Carolina used a 15-0 first-quarter run to take control and get within four victories of a perfect championship season.
The Gamecocks will play either No. 4 seed Indiana or No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Friday in the Albany 1 Region.
Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 center from Brazil, sat out the tournament opener Friday after her ejection for fighting at the Southeastern Conference Tournament title game two weeks ago. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, her 14th double-double this season.
The Tar Heels tried to keep things close. But the Gamecocks, at full strength and playing like their potent selves, outscored North Carolina 43-11 during a 14-minute stretch in the first half and were up 56-19 at the break.
Oregon State 61, Nebraska 51
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Talia von Oelhoffen had 19 points and eight assists to help third-seeded Oregon State advanced to the Sweet 16 with a second-round victory over No. 6 Nebraska.
Raegan Beers added 10 points for the Beavers (26-7), who will cross the country to Albany to face the winner of Monday’s second-round game between second-seeded Notre Dame and No. 7 Ole Miss in South Bend.
Jaz Shelley had 10 points and seven assists for the Huskers (23-13), who have not advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2013. She was the lone Nebraska player in double figures.
Alexis Markowski’s layup pulled the Huskers within 35-29 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Beavers responded with three straight 3-pointers to go up 44-29. Nebraska responded with a 6-0 run to get back within single digits.
Von Oelhoffen, who wore a sleeve on her arm with the word “heart” penned in magic marker, hit a 3-pointer that made it 49-35 for Oregon State with 3:46 left.
Natalie Potts’ layup got the Huskers as close at 59-51 in the final moments but ultimately Nebraska fell short.
Colorado 63, Kansas State 50
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Tameiya Sadler scored all 10 of her points in the second half to lead a balanced scoring attack and No. 5 seed Colorado beat four-seed Kansas State to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Buffaloes (24-9) will face the winner of Monday’s game between No. 1 seed Iowa and No. 8 seed West Virginia Saturday in Albany, N.Y.
This was the first home sellout for Kansas State since they hosted No. 1 UConn on Dec. 11, 2016.
Colorado, which had six players with nine or more points, used an 11-2 run in the third quarter to grab its largest lead of the game at 48-41. The Buffaloes outscored K-State 19-7 in the third quarter to take a 52-42 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats (26-8) had multiple chances to trim the deficit to three in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get the shots to fall.
Duke 75, Ohio State 63
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Reigan Richardson scored 28 points and added seven rebounds as No. 7 seed Duke rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to beat No. 2 seed Ohio State and earn a spot in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018.
Richardson hit a 3-pointer from the wing to put Duke (22-11) up 59-57 with 5:21 left. That sparked a 13-2 run by the Blue Devils that began to put the game out of reach.
Ashlon Jackson scored 13 points and Taina Mair added 11 for the Blue Devils, who move on to Portland, Oregon to play next weekend against the winner of Syracuse and UConn.
Cotie McMahon paced the Buckeyes (26-6) with 27 points. Most of those were in the paint. Ohio State attempted just nine 3-pointers in the game and didn’t make one until there were 12.2 seconds left in the game.
Celeste Taylor, who transferred to Ohio State from Duke before the season, scored just six points before fouling out with 6:38 left in the game.
Texas 65, Alabama 54
AUSTIN, Texas — Aaliyah Moore matched her career best with 21 points, had 10 rebounds and made a timely defensive play in the fourth quarter to help No. 1 seed Texas beat Alabama.
Freshman Madison Booker also scored 21 for Texas, which will face the Utah-Gonzaga winner in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Portland, Oregon. Booker wears No. 35 in honor of Kevin Durant, who was at the game.
Texas (32-4) has its most victories since finishing 32-3 in 1987-88.
DeYona Gaston had seven of her nine points, and six of her seven rebounds, in the second half. Taylor Jones had four of the Longhorns’ 11 blocked shots.
Jones left the game midway through the first quarter after falling and hitting the back of her head on the court while contesting a rebound. She went to the locker room but returned in the second quarter.
Sarah Ashlee Barker scored 17 for Alabama (24-10), a No. 8 seed, and Aaliyah Nye added 14.
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