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LSU Stops Rutgers, 64-58

by Judy Willson | Assoc. Communications Director
Box Score (PDF) - Nov. 24, 2019 - LSU 64, Rutgers 58 +0
LSU Stops Rutgers, 64-58

BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team came out on top against Rutgers Sunday night in the PMAC. After the 64-58 win, LSU is 5-1 on the season. Rutgers fall to 4-1.

LSU senior Ayana Mitchell led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds, the 31st double-double of her career. Junior Faustine Aifuwa was not far behind, scoring 16 points and nabbing seven rebounds. Aifuwa scored her 500th point during the third quarter on her 12th point of tonight’s game. The Tigers also dominated defensively, with 38 rebounds and four blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Despite an early 6-0 run by Rutgers, LSU came back to only down one at the first quarter media timeout. The Tigers quickly made that a 12-11 lead with free throws made by both Mitchell and Khayla Pointer.
  • The Tigers took the lead over the Scarlet Knights 16-14 heading into the second quarter thanks to a three by Awa Trasi.
  • After two more made free throws by Pointer and an impenetrable defense, LSU forced Rutgers to a timeout with 5:09 left in the second quarter and the score at 18-14.
  • Heading into halftime, the Tigers lead 32-23. Team highs in the first half included Pointer with 10 points and Trasi with six rebounds.
  • The Tigers played with beautiful offensive cohesion in the third quarter, maintaining their lead the entire time and heading into the fourth quarter up 50-43.
  • LSU kept the momentum going throughout the fourth quarter. The Tigers led 52-43 at the media timeout.
  • After hard-fought battle, the Tigers won 64-58.

UP NEXT

The Tigers head to Bimini, Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam. LSU will face Michigan State on Friday, November 29 at 4:15 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on Flo Hoops and live stats will be available.

Head Coach Nikki Fargas Post Game Quotes

On the game as a whole and Rutgers’ early foul trouble…

“We knew that it was going to be a 40-minute game and that every possession mattered. I thought the first few possessions of the game, we didn’t do a great job of executing, but then we settled in a little bit. I’ll say that we had some great moments during the game to get ourselves a lead. This team showed that they can keep the lead when you have a team like Rutgers, who likes to question you and defend you. You want to make sure that you’re taking care of the basketball and we did just that.”

On Mercedes Brooks’ big shots at the end…

“Those were huge baskets and I highlighted her after the game. I said to her, you didn’t play a lot of minutes, but your minutes were equally important to this victory. Every moment that you can be in the game—the thing that we talked about is influencing in a positive way and Mercedes did just that, she influenced. She got a big rebound for a put back, but I also want to highlight her defense towards the end there. She did a nice job of keeping her player from touching the ball and made it very hard for her to score.”

On the defensive scheme tonight (it looked a lot more man-to-man) …

“We did because we knew that they could shoot the three fairly well and we wanted to mix our defense up a little bit. The first half we played a little bit more matchup and then the second half was really about us man-to-man. (Rutgers Arella) Guirantes is a really good player. She’s a very good offensive-minded, crafty player so we ran different looks at her. Probably four different people guarded her tonight. You can go to your bench and your starters take pride in doing that. It’s always going to be positive for us.”

On 22 second chance points and relentless offensive play…

“It was a great effort to get those second and third opportunities. Obviously, Ayana Mitchell is very difficult to keep off the boards. There was a time where we had a shot and I saw Faustine Aifuwa come in and have a put back. She had two offensive put backs for us which were key. Then, Awa Trasi coming off the bench for us, she had huge rebounding plays, as well. There was one time when she went skying and it was two of us to one of them and they ended up calling a jump ball. I like our presence on the board tonight.”

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