Three takeaways from LSU women's basketball's loss to Texas

LSU women’s basketball failed to complete the season sweep of Texas on Thursday. The No. 4 Longhorns defended their home court and defeated the No. 5 Tigers 77-64.

Mikaylah Williams and Flau’Jae Johnson scored 20 and 11 points, respectively, for LSU. The purple and gold shot well in the early goings but ended 41.7% from the field after a poor showing in the fourth quarter.

Texas opened the final frame on a 10-0 run to bury any chance of an LSU comeback. The Tigers made their first field goal of the frame at the 1:53 minute mark and couldn’t come up with the answers needed to steal a win in Austin.

LSU and Texas started a combined seven of seven from the field in the first quarter. Johnson gave the Tigers the lead on a triple, which started a 7-0 run. They ended the first 10 minutes up by four.

The Tigers held onto the lead for much of the second quarter. Williams scored 11-straight points for her team, answering Texas’s valiant effort to keep the game close. The Longhorns regained the lead with under two minutes to play in the half with a 6-0 run. They led by four heading into the locker room.

After LSU scored the third quarter’s first four points, Justice Carlton went on a 5-0 run of her own to put Texas up by five. The Longhorns wouldn’t relinquish the lead, fending off LSU’s quick four-point outburst at the end of the frame to cut its deficit to four heading into the fourth quarter.

Here are three takeaways from LSU’s loss to Texas.

Williams stands out on both ends

Once again, Williams kept LSU in the game against Texas. She played stellar defense on Madison Booker in the second half and did all she could to withstand suffocating defense from Rori Harmon.

Williams played the entire second and fourth quarters. She didn’t get much help outside of Johnson on offense as the Longhorns locked in defensively, most times in a full-court press.

LSU failed to capitalize inside

In the early goings, LSU pounded the ball inside and got two post players in foul trouble for Texas. 20 of the Tigers’ 36 points in the first half were in the paint and they had a chance to continue that dominance in the third quarter as center Kyla Oldacre played just one minute of the frame.

Instead, LSU fell victim to Texas’s full-court pressure. It sped up the half-court offense, and the Tigers couldn’t get comfortable looks inside. The second-chance opportunities dwindled as well. LSU had 10 offensive boards in the first half compared to four in the second half.

Transition game dooms LSU

LSU typically thrives getting into track meets, but it got a taste of its own medicine on Thursday. Texas outscored the Tigers 13-4 in transition points and added 12 points off of 19 LSU turnovers.

Harmon led the way for the Longhorns. She totaled five assists and six steals, becoming the program’s all-time leader in career steals on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU women’s basketball falls to Texas: 3 takeaways from the loss

Three takeaways from LSU women’s basketball’s loss to Texas

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