BATON ROUGE, La. — Flau’Jae Johnson led the No. 7 LSU Tigers to a commanding 131-44 victory over North Carolina Central on Sunday, contributing 22 points. Aneesah Morrow also made a significant impact with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 17 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. This victory improved the Tigers’ record to 9-0 and marked Kim Mulkey’s 100th win as LSU’s head coach.

A total of eight LSU players scored in double figures during the game. Alongside Johnson and Morrow, Kailyn Gilbert netted 19 points, Sa’Myah Smith added 13, Last Tear-Poa scored 12, and both Mikaylah Williams, Jersey Wolfenbarger, and Jada Richard chipped in 10 points each. Morgan Callahan was the standout for N.C. Central, finishing with 13 points, as their record fell to 0-9.

In terms of the match-up, N.C. Central’s head coach Terrance Baxter faced a tough challenge as his team competed against the Tigers, which appeared to be more of a practice than a competitive game. Baxter’s squad is currently funding their program’s budget through road guarantees from power conference institutions, including LSU. Following the significant defeat, the Eagles have encountered an average margin of loss of 65.4 points against four top teams.

For LSU, the game served as an opportunity to maintain their rhythm ahead of an upcoming challenge against Stanford. Despite a lackluster opening quarter, where they struggled to find their groove, the Tigers exploded offensively in the remaining three quarters with a total of 105 points.

A pivotal moment occurred in the game when N.C. Central had one of its best first quarters this season, only trailing 26-18. However, LSU dominated in the second quarter, shutting out the Eagles completely while outscoring them 37-0, leading to a 63-18 advantage by halftime. N.C. Central ended the second quarter without a field goal, going 0-12, including missing all four of their 3-point attempts.

A noteworthy statistic from this matchup was LSU’s bench performance; they amassed a staggering 65 points, marking a season-high. Following an impressive nine-point streak from Johnson at the start of the second quarter, LSU continued to build their lead by getting 20 points off their bench during that period as five different substitutes each scored four points.

Looking ahead, N.C. Central will return home to play its third game of the season against Presbyterian on Wednesday, while LSU will be back in action at home on Thursday against unranked Stanford.