BATON ROUGE, La. — Reserve player Kailyn Gilbert delivered a standout performance with 23 points, including two crucial free throws in the closing seconds, guiding No. 6 LSU to an 82-77 victory against No. 19 Tennessee on Sunday.

With this triumph, the Tigers climbed to a tie for the top position in the Southeastern Conference alongside Texas and South Carolina.

In addition to Gilbert’s impressive outing, Mikaylah Williams contributed 16 points, Aneesah Morrow recorded 14 points and secured 14 rebounds, while Flau’Jae Johnson added another 12 points for LSU, which improved to a remarkable 25-1 overall and 10-1 in the conference.

The Lady Vols’ scoring was led by Ruby Whitehorn, who netted 21 points. Jewel Spears followed closely with 19 points, while Talaysia Cooper and Zee Spearman added 16 and 15 points respectively. Tennessee, now standing at 17-6 overall and 4-6 in conference play, entered this matchup coming off a hard-fought 80-76 victory over No. 5 UConn.

A key observation from the game was Tennessee’s reliance on three-point shooting. The Lady Vols found themselves trailing 41-37 at halftime, despite a surge that saw Jewel Spears score all the points during a 13-8 run. They finished the game shooting 33% from beyond the arc, hitting 6 of 18 attempts, while LSU managed 6 of 17 from long range.

For LSU, prior to this game, a staggering 63% of the team’s scoring had come from the trio of Johnson, Morrow, and Williams. However, when two of these key players encountered foul trouble early in the third quarter, Kailyn Gilbert stepped up, contributing 15 points in the period, helping the Tigers to a 62-57 lead going into the final quarter.

A pivotal moment came when Tennessee reduced LSU’s lead to 78-76 with just 23.9 seconds remaining. Following a foul by Whitehorn, Gilbert converted two free throws to extend the lead to 80-76. Morrow added two more free throws, bringing the score to 82-76 with only 13.7 seconds left on the clock. Whitehorn succeeded with her first free throw attempt but missed the second, allowing Morrow to grab the rebound and secure the win for LSU.

One significant statistic emerged from this contest: LSU’s bench, powered by Gilbert’s scoring, outscored Tennessee’s reserves by a substantial margin of 36 to 6.

Looking ahead, LSU is set to face No. 4 Texas on Saturday, while Tennessee will host Auburn on Thursday.