Tag: Aalyah Del Rosario

LSU women’s hoops dominates again in final exhibition game

The Tigers wrapped up their exhibition schedule with a 117-37 win on Wednesday night.

Two exhibition games down, and the LSU women’s basketball team looks to be in tip-top shape entering the season. Once again, it wasn’t even close as the Tigers dispatched an overmatched NAIA opponent in LSU-Alexandria, winning 117-37.

It was another big game for star junior guard [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag], who led the team with 29 points. Transfer [autotag]Kailyn Gilbert[/autotag] was another standout, finishing second behind Johnson with 26 points.

Six Tigers scored in double figures with Johnson and Gilbert joined by [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] (15 points), [autotag]Jada Richard[/autotag] (14), [autotag]Sa’Myah Smith[/autotag] (12) and [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag] (10 points). Smith, returning from a season-ending injury last year, also notched a double-double with 10 rebounds.

LSU shot a stunning 67.7% from the field in this game, including 5 of 9 on three-point attempts, while holding the Generals to 22.8% shooting and forcing 25 turnovers.

With a pair of tuneup exhibitions under their belt, the Tigers are ready to begin the regular season on Monday night with a contest against Eastern Kentucky.

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LSU women’s basketball survives against UCLA, advances to the Elite Eight

LSU is moving on to the Elite Eight for the 10th time in program history.

It was a battle for four quarters, but the LSU women’s basketball team survived in the Sweet 16 against No. 2-seeded UCLA, overcoming a deficit in the final frame to win 78-69.

The Tigers advanced to their 10th Elite Eight in program history and reached the quarterfinal round of the tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08.

The first quarter was neck-and-neck, with both teams tied at 15 entering the second quarter. Eight of those 15 points for LSU were scored by [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag].

The Tigers controlled the second quarter, outscoring the Bruins 19-12 as they took a 34-27 lead over the higher-seeded team heading into the locker room.

UCLA flipped the script in the third quarter, however. It outscored the Tigers by seven and reclaimed the lead. LSU ultimately tied it at 48, but it was an entirely new ball game heading into the fourth quarter.

Both teams found themselves in foul trouble in a back-and-forth fourth quarter with [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] and [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag] all picking up four.

Though it played from behind for a lot of the final quarter, LSU took a lead in the final two minutes, and a clutch layup from Johnson put the Tigers up four. An offensive foul on the other end gave the Tigers the ball back up two possessions with 39 seconds to play.

LSU extended its lead to six, but Reese fouled out with 31 seconds to play. Still, the Tigers’ defense held up without her, and they made their free throws down the stretch to salt the game away.

Johnson was once again the offensive star, finishing with a game-high 24 points while also adding 12 rebounds. Reese also finished with a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) despite fouling out, while Morrow (17 points) and [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] (12) also scored in double figures.

Now, LSU will move on to face the winner of Iowa and Colorado in what will either be a rematch of last year’s national title or this year’s season opener. That game will be on Monday night.

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3 Tigers honored in USA TODAY Sports’ postseason SEC women’s basketball accolades

The Tigers were unsurprisingly heavily featured in the postseason superlatives.

USA TODAY Sports released its postseason SEC honors on Wednesday, and it should come as no surprise that LSU features heavily on the list.

The highlight is [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], who was named SEC Player of the Year. She also won that award from the league itself, and she’s featured on the First Team All-SEC.

Joining her as a First-Teamer is [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag], and the DePaul transfer was also named the SEC Newcomer of the Year after a tremendous first season in Baton Rouge.

Finally, [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] was named to the Second Team All-SEC after she continued to build on a tremendous true freshman season as a sophomore this year.

USA TODAY didn’t release any freshman honors, but [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] was named the Freshman of the Year by the league, while [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag] joined her on the All-Freshman Team.

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LSU’s Mikaylah Williams earns SEC Freshman of the Year honors

Mikaylah Williams has proven to be one of the most impactful additions for the Tigers this season.

While much of the offseason attention was placed on LSU’s transfer portal additions, arguably the most impactful new player on the team this season came via high school recruiting.

[autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] has been named the SEC Freshman of the Year after a fantastic first campaign with the Tigers. With [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] also being named the SEC Player of the Year, LSU becomes the first school to have players win both awards since South Carolina in 2015.

The top high school recruit in the country, Williams is averaging 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds, with the headline being a 42-point showing against Kent State, the most points scored by an LSU freshman in the NCAA era.

She was, unsurprisingly, also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team along with [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag].

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Kim Mulkey praises defensive effort from LSU freshman Aalyah Del Rosario

Aalyah Del Rosario has played key minutes coming off the bench as a substitute for Angel Reese.

Entering the 2023-24 season, LSU had a number of star-studded additions to the roster.

Most of the talk centered around transfers [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] and [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag], as well as No. 1 recruit [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag]. However, one of the more unheralded additions has been another true freshman: [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag].

Mostly relegated to a bench role this season, Del Rosario has been an impactful substitution in her first season. In Monday’s win over Texas A&M, she played 12 minutes, totaling four points and two rebounds.

While that may not blow you away, she was especially impactful on the defensive end, recording three blocks and a steal.

Coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] praised her effort after the game.

“Aalyah, her stats are similar to S’Myah Smith and Nalyssa Smith’s freshman year stats,” Mulkey said. “That’s something a freshman coming off the bench needs to here, because it’s new for a lot of freshmen. You come in and you’re an All-American and you don’t realize how well they’re doing. There was a stretch there where she was blocking shots left and right. We’ll dwell on the three missed free throws, but she was a factor when Angel was subbed for.”

LSU will hope Del Rosario continues to develop and can be relied on for key minutes down the stretch as this team pushes toward the postseason.

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Instant Analysis: LSU women’s basketball smacks Florida to end skid

The Tigers got back on track with a decisive home win over the Gators on Sunday.

It’s been a rough recent stretch for the LSU women’s basketball team, but it took out its frustrations on a struggling Florida Gators team on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers took control early in the game and never looked back as they cruised to a 106-66 win, their largest in SEC play to this point, to move to 19-4 and 6-3 in league play.

LSU had a slow start and fell into an early 6-2 deficit, but that was about the highlight of the game for the Gators. The Tigers responded with a 14-0 run to seize control of the game, and they led 24-11 after the first.

[autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] came close to reaching a double-double in just the first 10 minutes, scoring seven points with nine rebounds.

LSU widened the gap even further with a 10-0 run early in the second quarter and ultimately took a commanding 54-28 lead by halftime. The snowball effect continued into the third as LSU stretched a 37-point lead heading into the fourth, its largest of the game to that point.

In the fourth, the Tigers ultimately stretched a game-high 45-point lead before taking their foot off the gas. Still, they crossed the 100-point threshold for the seventh time this season and first time in conference play.

[autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] led the team with 21 points each, and Morrow ultimately finished with an impressive 18-point, 20-rebound line. [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] scored 14, while [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag] and [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Tigers dominated on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 59-34. They scored 42 points in the paint and played strong defense, holding Florida to 35.3% shooting with 20 turnovers.

It was the kind of result LSU needed, and coach Kim Mulkey’s team will hope this level of play continues when the team returns to the court on Thursday for what will be a tougher test against Vanderbilt on the road.

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Loyola no match for LSU women’s basketball as Tigers dominate in second exhibition win

The Tigers won their second and final exhibition game 121-36 over Loyola.

LSU looked the part of a preseason No. 1 team in its two exhibitions.

The Tigers completed their preseason slate on Wednesday night in a scrimmage against NAIA opponent Loyola (New Orleans), and it was an even more dominant win than the first scrimmage.

LSU won 121-36, starting the game on a 15-0 run and ultimately taking a 63-16 lead to the locker room.

After debuting a starting lineup of all newcomers in the first exhibition, we saw what will likely be the starting five in the regular season: [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag], [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag], Mikaylah Williams, Aneesah Morrow and Angel Reese.

Williams, a highly touted true freshman, led the team in scoring with 20 points followed by another true freshman in [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag] with 16. They were joined in double figures scoring by Johnson (15 points), Van Lith (13), [autotag]Last-Tear Poa[/autotag] (12) Morrow (11) and Reese (10).

Reese also added nine rebounds, coming one short of a double-double, as did Rosario. Morrow did manage a double-double as she had 12 rebounds.

LSU shot 60.5% as a team while allowing the Wolf Pack to shoot just 20.9 percent. Turnovers, of which LSU had 19, were a bit of a problem. However, it did force 20 of its own.

The Tigers divvied the minutes up quite a bit in this game as coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] looks to finalize the rotation. We’ll see the result of that when the Tigers begin their season Monday night against Colorado in Las Vegas.

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LSU women’s basketball routs East Texas Baptist in exhibition to kick off 2023-24 season

The Tigers kicked off their title defense with a 99-26 win over Division III East Texas Baptist.

Preseason No. 1 LSU women’s basketball began its national title defense on Thursday night with the first of two exhibition games, and East Texas Baptist was no match.

LSU easily dispatched its Division III opponent, winning 99-26 in a game that spotlighted practically the entire roster.

The starting lineup featured all newcomers with transfers [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] as well as true freshmen [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Janae Kent[/autotag] and [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag].

All made their share of plays, with Williams, Kent and Morrow totaling 10 points. The former two also neared double-doubles with nine and eight rebounds, respectively. Van Lith nearly scored in double figures in her LSU debut, as well, finishing with nine points.

Despite coming off the bench, it was the returning players that would star in this one.

[autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] led the team with 18 points, while [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] scored 17 while adding seven rebounds. [autotag]Sa’Myah Smith[/autotag] registered the team’s only double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

LSU’s defense smothered ETBU, forcing 39 turnovers that resulted in 32 points for the Tigers. They also won the rebounding battle 51-34.

While the dominating win was a nice way to kick things off, a Division III opponent is far from a real test for a team that enters the year as the favorite to repeat as national champions.

LSU will kick off its regular season against a ranked Colorado team on Nov. 6, but in the meantime, it will have one more exhibition against Loyola (New Orleans) next Thursday night.

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