Without Reese, No. 7 LSU cruises past Niagara in Cayman Classic
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Aneesah Morrow had 28 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 7 LSU, which once again was playing without Angel Reese, beat Niagara 99-65 in the Cayman Islands Classic on Friday.
Reese didn’t make the trip to the Cayman Islands and missed her third straight game for the defending national champions.
A smoke alarm emptied the gym before the game and delayed the tip by about 40 minutes and the Purple Eagles kept it close in the opening minutes, stealing an LSU inbounds pass and scoring to cut the Tigers’ lead to 7-6.
The Tigers (6-1) used a 21-0 run midway through the first half to pull away and led by as many as 42 at one point in the third.
Hailey Van Lith finished with 20 points and seven assists while Mikaylah Williams and Flau’jae Johnson scored 19 and 14 points, respectively.
While the Tigers cruised, a pair of key players appear to have suffered injuries. Starting forward Sa’Myah Smith came out of the game in the first quarter after appearing to injure her knee while driving to the basket on a fast break. She did not return.
“You don’t plan for those types of things. You don’t plan for any obstacles or hiccups,” LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said. “You make adjustments. It’s important that we don’t miss the fact that we just won a basketball game. We just almost scored 100 points again without Sa’Myah Smith and putting in a lineup that has not played that many minutes (with a small lineup) together. That makes me feel good.”
Johnson was tended to by medical staff on the floor and left midway through the third quarter. She briefly returned to the game in the fourth quarter.
BIG PICTURE
Much of the attention over the past week has focused on Reese, who is averaging a team-leading 10.3 rebounds. The Tigers appear to miss her presence on the boards as they were outrebounded by Niagara, 39-38.
UP NEXT:
Niagara faces No. 2 UCLA on Saturday
LSU plays Virginia on Saturday.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball