By james art 
Baton Rouge – Behind excellent performances from both Aneesah Morrow and Flau’jae Johnson, No. 5 LSU (21-1, 6-1) got back into the win column on Sunday afternoon as the Tigers took care of Texas A&M (10- 9, 3-4 ) at home with a score of 64-51.
Morrow scored his 1,000th career point in an LSU uniform with his second basket of the game as he scored 19 points. She also moved into the top 10 in NCAA DI history for tackles with 9 on Sunday. Morrow now has 1,538 career tackles.
Johnson contributed to the victory as she posted an impressive 22-point, 5-rebound performance.
Jada Richard gave LSU a spark off the bench in the first half with three starters in foul trouble. Richard scored 7 points and Kailyn Gilbert contributed 6 points off the bench.
The Aggies were led Sunday afternoon by Talia Parker, who finished with 13 points. Aicha Koulibaly scored 12 points in the first half, but suffered an injury late in the first half and was unable to return.
For the second straight game, LSU didn’t shoot the ball well. After shooting under 30 percent Friday against South Carolina, the Tigers were limited to 32 percent against the Aggies. But LSU’s defense limited Texas A&M to 31 percent shooting.
LSU’s defense and rebounding allowed the Tigers to come away with the win, forcing 21 turnovers and grabbing 52 rebounds. LSU’s 30 offensive tackles are the most in an SEC game in program history.
“Thirty offensive boards, 21 turnovers,” coach Kim Mulkey said. “It’s rebounding and it’s defense and when it’s tough for you on the offensive end, that’s what keeps you in ballgames and that’s what helps you win ballgames. And I know I’ve preached that since I’ve been here, but this is a great example of that today. ”
LSU returns home Thursday night to host No. 15 Oklahoma for the annual White Out game. The game will air on ESPN2 at 6:00 PM CT.
After opening up the defense for ten minutes, the Aggies were able to claim a one-point lead at the quarter break, 13-12. Texas A&M’s Aicha Coulibaly led all scorers with 7 points. LSU started the day cold, shooting just 28 percent in the opening quarter.
Despite a rough start to the day, the Tigers came out and made three straight buckets to start the quarter, capped off by Aneesa Morope off a Sa’myah Smith steal. LSU continued the hot start as they outscored Texas A&M 13-4 in the first 5:58 of the period. The Aggies responded well and held LSU to just three points in the final four minutes of the first half as it ended with LSU up by five, 30-25. The Tigers battled foul trouble in the first half with Johnson, Morrow and Williams all picking up two fouls.
The third quarter continued the defensive motif of the game as both teams failed to shoot above 35% in the period, which was highlighted by an 11-6 Aggie run that cut LSU’s lead to just 2 with 2:55 left in the quarter. Flau’jae Johnson’s layup on back-to-back possessions pushed the Tiger lead back to 6 as the third quarter ended 44-38.
With 6:32 left in the game, Texas A&M hit a three to bring the score within two, but Kailyn Gilbert answered with a three of her own at the end to score her first points of the game. Johnson scored on a breakaway on a steal on the next possession to make it 5-0 LSU as Texas A&M took a timeout with LSU leading, 53-46.
Gilbert drained another trey with under four minutes left to make it 58-49. That ultimately proved to be too much for Texas A&M to overcome as the Tigers were able to close out the win by a final score of 64-51.
*LSU press release
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