GAMEDAY Womens Basketball
Louisiana State 83, Georgia 66
By PETE IACOBELLI
AP Sports Writer
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Alexis Morris scored 28 points and Flau'jae Johnson had 21 as No. 4 LSU used its long-range shooting to advance to the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals with an 83-66 victory over Georgia.
Morris and Johnson each had five 3s for the second-seeded Tigers (28-1), who will take on third-seeded Tennessee or defending champion Kentucky, the 14th seed, on Saturday night for a trip to Sunday's championship game.
SEC scoring and rebounding leader Angel Reese missed a double-double for just the second time this season with 15 points and six rebounds. She also was called for technical as she sparred with Georgia's Diamond Battles. Battles was also called for a technical in the third quarter.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey pulled Reese after her fourth foul with 9:02 left in the game. She did not return.
Georgia (21-11) will wait out the next nine days to see its NCAA Tournament destination.
The contest also featured a weather delay of about 45 minutes due to a bad storm and a leaky roof at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena that sent the teams to their locker rooms for a stretch of the second quarter.
LSU entered off four straight wins since its lone loss to SEC champion South Carolina on Feb. 12. Mulkey had a modest goal coming in - win her first SEC Tournament game since taking the job after they lost their tourney opener a year ago.
Morris took care of that early with three 3-pointers in fewer than four minutes as the Tigers took a 14-4 lead.
LSU, which averages five 3s a game this season, kept up its barrage from long distance throughout and ended with 11 to tie its season high.
The second quarter included a bizarre delay as water leaked onto the floor due to a strong storms passing over the area.
Mulkey and Georgia coach Kim Abrahamson-Henderson were called together by officials with 4:23 left before halftime and were soon looking up at the ceiling as the water dripped. The delay lasted about 45 minutes.
The game resumed without additional leaks or stoppages.
Alisha Lewis led Georgia with 14 points. Battles, the Bulldogs leading scorer, finished with just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting.
BIG PICTURE
Georgia: The Bulldogs had come in winning six of their last seven and most likely have done enough in Kim Abrahamson-Henderson's debut season to make the NCAA Tournament. It would be Georgia's third straight trip to the field of 68.
LSU: The Tigers had a close call with Georgia in the regular season - they beat the Bulldogs 82-77 in overtime - but didn't let that past meeting impact them here. Morris and Johnson took care of the outside shooting, while Reese and LaDazhia Williams handled things inside by combining for 25 points and 13 rebounds.
March 3, 2023
| Georgia | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| B. Smith | F | 25 | 4-11 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| J. Isaacs | F | 17 | 0-1 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| D. Battles | G | 30 | 2-12 | 3-3 | 0-6 | 0-4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| A. Warren | G | 23 | 3-6 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| C. Chapman | G | 7 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Lewis | 31 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 0-3 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | |
| Z. Smith | 30 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |
| J. Nicholson | 26 | 5-11 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | |
| M. Bates | 12 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
| Totals | 201 | 25-60 (.417) |
11-17 (.647) |
5-13 (.385) |
10-32 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 21 | 66 | |
| LSU | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| L. Williams | F | 37 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| A. Reese | F | 20 | 4-9 | 7-9 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| F. Johnson | G | 35 | 7-13 | 2-4 | 5-7 | 1-8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 |
| A. Morris | G | 35 | 10-17 | 3-3 | 5-9 | 0-1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 28 |
| J. Carson | G | 15 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| K. Poole | 28 | 1-2 | 1-4 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | |
| S. Smith | 21 | 1-3 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| L. Poa | 8 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| A. Bartlett | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| E. Ward | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 28-56 (.500) |
16-24 (.667) |
11-22 (.500) |
8-34 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 15 | 83 | |
Officials: Pualani Spurlock-Welsh, Cameron Inouye, Eric Koch
