BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU women's basketball defending national champions rallied past a spirited and upset-minded Middle Tennessee team 83-56 Sunday making its way into the Sweet Sixteen later this week.
LSU used a nearly perfect final 18 minutes to roll past the Blue Raiders in a performance befitting a defending champ. The Tigers outscored MTSU 51-20 in the second half.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey was asked after the game if her press conference Saturday where she railed against an expected unfavorable Washington Post story that has not been published, had been a distraction for the team that started out slowly.
"We not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we're trying to do," she said. "Absolutely not. My kids didn't even know I said that yesterday. That team isn't involved in this. They were in shock when they saw all of that on the Internet."
Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers. Flau' jae Johnson added 21 points.
"I wasn't going home. I put in too much work," said Johnson.
Lost amid LSU coach Kim Mulkey's diatribe against an expected Washington Post story on Saturday was the coach's warning about the danger MIddle Tennessee posed. Mulkey pointed out the Blue Raiders hadn't lost since January 10, including a big rally against favored Louisville in the first round that set up Sunday's matchup.
The Blue Raiders (31-5) held a 41-32 lead with 8:22 to go in the third quarter when LSU turned things around, forcing turnovers, blocking shots, hitting from inside and out, making a 10-0 run to take the lead and then widening it with continued spirited play. LSU scored 27 points in the quarter to take a 59-49 lead into the final frame.
LSU will next face the winner of the UCLA-Creighton matchup, which is slated for Monday night.
The Tigers are still on a path for a possible rematch with Caitlin Clark and Iowa, which would be in the Elite Eight.
