Flau’Jae Johnson named to preseason watch list for several women’s basketball national awards

Flau’Jae Johnson is expected to have a big year for the Tigers.

It’s the beginning of a new era of sorts for the LSU women’s basketball program.

While it loses [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], the biggest star from the deep tournament runs the last two seasons, and will rely on a veteran-heavy transfer class, it also returns some key contributors. [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag], who had a breakout season as a sophomore last year, is chief among them.

Johnson, along with teammate [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag], is the preseason Co-SEC Player of the Year. She has now been named to multiple watch lists for postseason awards.

On Monday, Johnson was named to the watch list for the Naismith Trophy, given to the top player in the nation, and on Tuesday, she also made the cut for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which is given to the top shooting guard.

In the first exhibition of the season against Xavier (New Orleans), Johnson paced the team with 30 points and 10 rebounds in a double-double outing. The Tigers face LSU-Alexandria in another exhibition on Thursday before beginning the regular season against Eastern Kentucky on Monday.

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