The Tigers struggled early once again, but like in the first round against Rice, coach Kim Mulkey’s team ultimately pulled away to win in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Middle Tennessee State on Sunday.
This time, it trailed at halftime but dominated the second half en route to an 83-56 win. Now, the Tigers will move on to face either No. 2-seeded UCLA or No. 7-seeded Creighton in the Sweet 16.
LSU led for nearly the entire first quarter and by as much as eight in the frame, but a Middle Tennessee three in the final seconds cut the lead to five entering the second quarter.
The Blue Raiders won the second frame, however. They went on a 14-2 run at one point to take a six-point lead — its largest at that point — with less than two minutes to play in the half.
LSU hit a shot to end a 1 of 8 shooting streak in the final minutes of the frame, but it still entered the locker room facing a 36-32 deficit. Middle Tennessee opened the second half hot and stretched its lead out to nine, but LSU quickly answered with a 10-0 run as it erased the deficit and tied the game.
The Tigers stayed hot and ultimately led by 10 entering the fourth after outscoring MTSU 27-13 in the third.
The fourth was more of the same. LSU outscored the Blue Raiders 24-7 in the final quarter as it completely took control. [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] led the way in this one with 21 points, while [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] (20 points, 11 rebounds) and [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] (19 points, 13 rebounds) both turned in double-doubles.
LSU shot just 43% in the game and only won the rebounding battle by two, but it forced 16 MTSU turnovers while only committing nine itself.
Now, the Tigers are moving on to their 16th Sweet 16 in program history and will await the winner of the game between the Bruins and Blue Jays, which is set for Monday night.
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