The Takeaways: Kim Mulkey, LSU Tigers Fall to Dawn Staley and South Carolina 66-56

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 5 LSU (20-1, 5-1) dropped its first game of the season Friday at No. 2 South Carolina (19-1, 7-0), 66-56, as the Gamecocks held the Tigers to a season-low in scoring.

“I thought our defense and I thought South Carolina's defense was good,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “Low scoring game. Both teams, you know, scouted each other pretty darn good. It wasn't an entertaining game from an offensive standpoint, but I didn't think it was a boring game. I thought it was a very good game.”

Although the Tigers outrebounded the Gamecocks by 12, LSU’s turnovers and South Carolina’s ability to draw fouls allowed the Gamecocks to win the game.

South Carolina made 18-26 free throws compared to LSU’s 7-9. Both teams made a total of 23 field goals.

LSU turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 22 South Carolina points. LSU grabbed 28 offensive rebounds, but only scored 22 second chance points.

“In this game it’s just a little thing that’s usually the difference,” Coach Mulkey said. “To me it was turnovers at the most critical time that allowed the crowd to get into it and allowed them to gain a little more confidence.”

LSU was led in scoring tonight by Aneesah Morrow, who posted her 19th double-double of the season and the 93rd of her career with her line of 15 points and 16 rebounds. Flau’Jae Johnson also contributed 13 points and 4 rebounds of her own and Mikaylah Williams also had 13 points.

South Carolina had a balanced attack. Joyce Edwards was the leading scorer with 14 points and Sania Feagin was the Gamecocks’ only other player in double figures, but a total of eight players scored at least five points.

The Tigers will return home to face Texas A&M on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. Sunday begins a stretch of three straight home games for the Tigers.

The first quarter saw the Tigers take a 16-11 lead at the 4:55 media timeout, as LSU began the game shooting 64-percent and getting the ball inside to score 8 points in the paint. All five of the LSU starters managed to score a basket in the first five minutes.

The Gamecocks went on a 6-0 run to end the opening quarter with LSU holding a one point lead, 22-21. LSU outrebounded South Carolina in the opening quarter, 10-7, and both teams turned the ball over four times.

Entering the second quarter, the two sides continued to trade buckets, as there were. The Tigers held the Gamecocks to just 17.6% shooting in the period.

After a long scoreless stretch in the middle of the period, South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson made a three to give the Gamecocks a 32-30 lead with 2:14 left in the half. Both teams went cold late in the half as LSU missed its final 14 shots of the second quarter and the Gamecocks went into the locker room going 1-9.

In a first half that saw 11 lead changes, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson led all scorers with 11 points, and Aneesah Morrow led all rebounders with 8 boards. After a Chloe Kitts free throw to extend the Gamecock lead, the first half ended 33-30.

After the teams traded baskets for the first few minutes of the third quarter, South Carolina went on a 8-0 run, fueled by two LSU turnovers, to stretch their lead to nine, forcing LSU to take a timeout at the 5:13 mark. The period ended with South Carolina leading, 51-41.

LSU was unable to mount a fourth quarter comeback, as South Carolina was able to close out the 66-56 victory.

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