No. 7 LSU sets school records for points, margin of victory in 133-44 win over McNeese State

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This article was published 12/12/2023 (1009 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Aalyah Del Rosario has 27 points and 10 rebounds and Angel Reese added 21 points and 10 boards as No. 7 LSU set school records for points in a game and margin of victory in a 133-44 rout of McNeese State on Tuesday night.

LSU easily surpassed its previous point total of 125, set in a win over Bellarmine (125-41) in November 2022. The Tigers’ 89-point margin of victory eclipsed their 76-point win over Prairie View (104-28) in 1995.

The game was tied at 10 when LSU scored a school-record 47 straight points as part of a 56-2 run that stretched from 3:24 left in the first quarter until McNeese scored on an Emilia Tenbrock layup with 8:19 left in the third.

LSU blanked McNeese 30-0 in the second quarter. The Cowgirls went 0 of 7 from the field and committed 16 turnovers, leading to 22 points for LSU.

“I told them (LSU’s team) at half I don’t know if I’ve even been part of that (holding an opponent scoreless for an entire quarter,” LSU head coach Kim Mulkey. “And a run like that you don’t think about it in the moment. I don’t care who you’re playing. That’s crazy.”

Anneesah Morrow added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, who had six players score in double figures. Mikaylah Williams scored 26 points, Flau’jae Johnson had 16 and Angelica Velez 10.

Alva Mofalk and Tenbrock led McNeese with 12 points each.

Against a McNeese defense ranked 334th among 348 Division I teams in points per game allowed, LSU missed 10 of its first 13 shots and was tied at 10 in the first six minutes of the game.

A three-point play by Morrow started LSU’s run. The Tigers led 32-12 at the end of the first quarter and 62-12 at halftime.

“Their defensive pressure got to us,” McNeese head coach Lynn Kennedy said of LSU scoring 52 points off 36 McNeese turnovers. “We just didn’t handle it well. LSU caught fire. The fast break really opened it up for them, they some transition shots and that got them going.”

The emergence of 6-6 freshman center Del Rosario off the bench is a huge key for the Tigers going forward. She’s getting the minutes that belonged to sophomore Sa’Myah Smith, who was averaging 11.7 points and 7.6 rebounds when she sustained a season-ending injury on Nov. 24 in the seventh game of the season.

Against McNeese in her 11th college game, Del Rosario established career highs in almost every stat category.

“It changed my perspective of the game,” said Del Rosario, a Dominican Republic native who led The Webb School to two consecutive Tennessee state titles in 2022 and 2023. “I knew I was going to have to step up, play big-time minutes on the court and take advantage of the minutes. When I came here, I was not in the best of shape. Now, I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been.”

BIG PICTURE

LSU: Louisville transfer Hailey Van Lith, who started the Tigers’ first nine games at point guard, sat out a second straight game because of plantar fasciitis and a left wrist injury. Returning junior Last-Tear Poa started in Van Lith’s place.

McNeese: In their last five games, the Cowgirls have won twice, scoring 100 or more points, and lost three times, allowing 100 or more points.

UP NEXT

LSU: Hosts Northwestern State on Sunday.

McNeese: Hosts Centenary on Thursday.

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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