SPOKANE, Wash. – No. 3-seed LSU will look to reach its third consecutive Elite Eight on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT when the Tigers take on No. 2-seed NC State in Spokane Memorial Arena on ESPN.
LSU and NC State will meet Friday on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. CT with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line! pic.twitter.com/cMaoSSvsKx
— LSU Women’s Basketball (@LSUwbkb) March 27, 2025
Pam Ward, Stephanie White and Holly Rowe will call the action on ESPN, Fans can also listen to Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the LSU Sports Radio Network, 100.7 FM in Baton Rouge.
LSU has been on fire to start the tournament, becoming the second team ever to record back-to-back 100 points games in NCAA Tournament history. The Tigers tallied a NCAA Tournament program record 103 points in the first-round win over San Diego State and then went for 101 points against Florida State in the second-round.
In the last win over FSU, LSU shot a season-high 56.2 percent. The Tigers set a program NCAA Tournament record with 29 assists. Morrow and Sa’Myah Smith were the first frontcourt duo in NCAA Tournament history with 20-point double-doubles and 5 assists a piece. Flau’Jae Johnson tallied 13 points in the win, her first time over LSU’s past five NCAA Tournament games that she did not score 20+ points.
Mjracle Sheppard, a key piece for LSU coming off the bench, is back playing in her home state roughly three hours from her hometown of Kent, Washington. She has scored 12 points through the first two playoff games with 5 assists and 3 steals.
“She’s just selfless and she come in and she work hard every day,” Johnson said of Sheppard. “And you get to see that on and off the floor, but her being able to play in front of her family is going to mean a lot.”
A huge third quarter performance pushed LSU past FSU in the second-round of the NCAA Tournament, 101-71. LSU shot a season-high 56.2-percent from the field and set a program record for an NCAA Tournament game with 29 assists. The post duo of Aneesah Morrow and Sa’Myah Smith both posted near triple-doubles. Morrow finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists with 2 steals. Smith has a season-high 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting, 12 rebounds, career-high 6 assists with 3 steals and a block. Mikaylah Williams poured in 28 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
“We hold each other accountable, and we accept the challenges that we have for one another, and we set a standard, and we don’t lower that for each other,” Morrow said.
Morrow is currently tied for the sixth most single-season rebounds in LSU history with 459 boards this year. With five rebounds, the nation’s leading rebounder would move into fourth place. With 1,688 career rebounds, she is also just 16 rebounds shy of tying BYU’s Lauren Gustin for the No. 4 spot on the all-time NCAA DI rebounding list. Her next double-double would be her 30th this season.
LSU and NC State will match up for the second time this season. The Tigers defeated NC State by 17 in the championship of the Bah Mar Pink Flamingo Championship in November. At the time, NC State was ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll and it marked LSU’s first ranked win over the season. The Wolfpack found their groove after facing the Tigers and lost just two games in ACC play, finishing in a tie for first in the conference. NC State reached the Final Four last year as a No. 3-seed.
“I think both teams are obviously better, and we just have a lot of respect for them,” Coach Mulkey said. “We don’t look at the previous game. We just think that we’re both trying to advance to an Elite 8, and we don’t really even think about that game (in November).”
Each of the NC State’s six losses this season have come to teams in the NCAA Tournament field, with five of those coming against AP Top 12 opponents – No. 2 South Carolina, No. 6 TCU, No. 7 Duke, No. 10 LSU and No. 12 UNC.
“They have four outstanding guards, and they’re not going to change their philosophy all of the sudden and become a post-dominant team,” Coach Mulkey said. “So we know what their strengths are, we know what their improvements are, and we’re going to try to win one more game.”
The Pack set several NCAA Tournament program records in the win 83-49 over Michigan State to reach the Sweet 16 with 15 made 3-pointers, a margin of victory of 34 and seven blocked shots (tied record). Saniya Rivers tallied 11 assists, which set a new single-game NCAA Tournament record at NC State.
**LSU Press Release**
