LSU WBB crushes OU, setting up rematch with South Carolina

LSU took care of Oklahoma 112-78 on Friday afternoon in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, with one of the best all-around team efforts of the season from one through nine. The guards came ready to score, the bigs defended Raegan Beers and battled on the glass, and the veterans imposed themselves on the game.

LSU shot 13-of-24 from deep and scored 40 in the final frame en route to a convincing win to start the weekend, but now things get real. South Carolina awaits the Tigers in the semifinal round on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for a rematch of their incredible matchup on Feb. 14 where the Gamecocks escaped the PMAC with a narrow win.

“If you aren’t fired up to play in that game, you’ve come to the wrong school and the wrong program,” LSU assistant coach Gary Redus said. “We felt like we let one slip away, but you get another chance. In postseason, you always get another chance at one of the best teams in our conference, the gold standard for a while now. It’s going to take a really strong effort, a really tough effort from us. We’re in Greenville, South Carolina, so it’s going to be tough, but we’re excited. These are the games you want to play in. The best teams are playing right now. We’re excited about the opportunity.”

LSU could be playing for that final one-seed as well this weekend, as the tournament seeding is still in flux in these final games. The Tigers made a big statement on Friday and were able to rest some key players, with only Grace Knox and Flau’Jae Johnson playing 30+ minutes. The team went to Greenville ready to compete for a championship and now they get a chance to make a statement on Saturday.

“We understand this is an entire weekend thing,” Redus said. “We didn’t plan on sitting [the starters] for the rest of the game; it just worked out. When we subbed and had a different rotation, the lead went from 12 or 14 to 25, then 30, then 35. So you have to rest those kids. That’s really important. We need to be fresh all weekend.”

LSU’s depth and pace has been able to wear teams out all year and now that depth could play a huge role on Saturday in getting a win over the top seed in this conference tournament.

More Quotes after LSU’s win over Oklahoma

On what allowed LSU to pull away...

Redus: “Right. When you can come out and rebound well, we didn’t early on, so we wanted to clean it up, stop giving up second-chance points, and get back in transition defense. When we get back, we get set, we can get stops, and that powers our offense. In the second half, we did a lot better. 67 points in a half, 40 in the fourth quarter. It was pretty good.”

On the defensive success…

Redus: “We want to control the things we can control. We can always control our effort on the glass and being cognizant of taking care of the ball. Our defense is good when we get back and don’t allow transition opportunities. We want to play half-court defense and finish possessions the way we should.”

On defending Beers…

Redus: “With Beers, you have to keep her from getting to her spot. If she gets to her spot and gets the ball, she’s going to score. In the first half, she didn’t get anywhere close to her spot for the most part. We know she’s one of the best players in the country, definitely one of the best post players since she’s come to college. We wanted to do our work early, make it tough, no easy drop-step layups, be physical, and not let her dominate us. I thought Kate and Mymy got in and did a really good job. We battled, and that’s all we want to do every night: battle.

On Flau’Jae Johnson reaching 2,000 points…

Redus: “It was huge. It was huge for Flau’jae [to hit 2K]. She plays better when she feels good. For her to go on that little run in the second half was huge for her. We’re really proud of Flet. She doesn’t care that much about the 2,000 points, but when she looks back, it’ll be something she really appreciates. Not many Tigers have done it. Six now. Amazing accomplishment, a true testament to her hard work.”