GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Flau’jae Johnson scored 21 points, Angel Reese had 21 points and 17 rebounds and No. 8 LSU reached its first Southeastern Conference Tournament title game since 2012 with a 75-67 victory over Mississippi on Saturday night.
The Tigers (28-4) will face regular-season champion in No. 1 South Carolina in Sunday’s final.
LSU had a scary moment in the fourth quarter when guard Last-Tear Poa fell hard beneath the basket. She was taken off the court on a stretcher. An LSU spokesman said Poa was taken to St. Francis Hospital for further evaluation.
Reese and LSU broke away from the Rebels (22-8) in the final period after Mississippi had cut an 11-point deficit to 52-51 late in the third quarter.
Reese scored her team’s next six points, including a three-point play. She then stole the ball for a breakaway layup and shook her head, shouting in celebration as LSU stretched the lead to 62-53.
Mississippi (22-8) got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
Aneesah Morrow had 12 points and 12 rebounds for LSU.
The Tigers didn’t get off to quite as fast a start as in the quarterfinals — they led Auburn 21-0 on the way to a blowout victory — but Reese, Morrow and Johnson had more than enough to open double-digit lead on the Rebels.
Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:23 to go before halftime had LSU ahead 34-23.
Outside of Madison Scott, who was 5-of-10 shooting the first 20 minutes, the Rebels struggled to make shots. The rest of the team hit just five field goals.
Mississippi found some offensive rhythm after halftime and used an 8-2 burst to draw within a point on Marquesha Davis’ bucket while she was fouled with less than a minute left in the third quarter. Davis had the chance to tie things, but missed the free throw and LSU took off from there.
Scott led Mississippi with 22 points while Davis finished with 21.
THE BIG PICTURE
Mississippi: Ole Miss has had a strong season and will be an NCAA Tournament team. But the Rebels don’t yet have enough depth to hang with the SEC’s best teams in LSU and South Carolina,
LSU: The Tigers looked like a powerhouse in their opener against Auburn. They looked more vulnerable against the Rebels and will need to play more like they did in Friday’s quarterfinals to win their first SEC Tournament title since 2003.
UP NEXT
LSU will play South Carolina on Sunday for the SEC Tournament title.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
