Fowles, a certain future Naismith Hall of Famer, couldn’t check all of those skills boxes. I can’t think of an LSU player who could.
As great as Reese is, you knew the Tigers would need something more against Michigan. The Wolverines weren’t as talented or fast as LSU, but they had size throughout the roster and experience, having gone all the way to the Elite Eight last season.
As the first quarter unfolded, you knew Michigan wasn’t getting anywhere close to the Elite Eight this time.
LSU held the Wolverines to a season-low seven first-quarter points as the Tigers took a 12-7 lead to the second. It would have been like 19-7 if LSU could have made some jumpers, but the Tigers shot just 5 of 21 from the field in the first 10 minutes, 0-for-8 from 3-point range.
It took a rather surprising source to get the Tigers going. LSU coach Kim Mulkey benched shooting guard Jasmine Carson after she managed just 19 points combined in the Tigers’ previous five games, starting Kateri Poole for her defensive help instead. But Carson came off the bench and nailed a trio of 3-pointers, helping LSU shake loose from pesky Michigan enough to take a 30-15 halftime lead.
Michigan hung tough, cutting LSU’s lead to 30-22 early in the third quarter. But Reese made a layup and Poole added a 3-pointer nine seconds later to put the Tigers back up 13 and helped them actually extend the lead to 16 by the end of the quarter, 47-31.
Now it’s back to Greenville, South Carolina, site of this month’s SEC tournament, for LSU’s first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2014. LSU will play No. 2-seeded Utah, which didn’t exactly overwhelm beating No. 10 Princeton 63-56 Sunday in Salt Lake City.
Utah is a very good team, though, sharing the Pac-12 regular-season title with perennial power Stanford. The challenges, as is usually the case, only increase the deeper you go into the tournament.
LSU is only half way to the Final Four, but these two wins were mighty important. It allowed LSU to show progress in every aspect from its first season under Mulkey to this: more wins (30-2 compared to 26-6), more Southeastern Conference wins (15-1 to 13-3), a win in the SEC tournament and now one more win in the NCAA tournament than last year, the three weeks by which every program is judged.
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