On the March Madness stage, LSU sets a record for 100-point games en route to the Sweet 16
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — With skillful scorers Flau'jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams leading the way, LSU was scoring with such ease that Texas Tech coach Krista Gerlich told to her players that their best defense might be a slower offense. The Lady Raiders, who hang their hat on a pressing defense that aims to defend the entire court for as close to 40 minutes as possible, hadn't given as many as 85 points all season.
But in the second round of March Madness , they found themselves on track to give up 100 to a high-flying Tigers team that already had hit that mark a record-tying 15 times this season. “There was a time in the third quarter that we called a timeout and said, ‘If you don’t want them to hang 100 on you, you’ve got to quit shooting it so quickly,’” Gerlich said after No. 2 seed LSU's NCAA record-setting 101-47 victory over Tech on Sunday.
Gerlich said the Tech had to limit LSU's possessions “to keep them from scoring the ball because they can score it so well. ” LSU has now scored 100 points 16 times this season — something never done before in women's Division I basketball. Long Beach State did it 15 times in the 1986-87 season, and their record stood until this weekend.
The LSU fans packing the Pete Maravich Assembly Center were so delighted by the record that when guard Jada Richard hit a 3 to put LSU past the 100-point mark, they erupted as if she'd hit a game-winning shot. Richard said she wasn't aware of her basket's significance when she let it go. “When I hit the 3, I was wondering why everybody was so loud," Richard said.
“I was so confused. ” Setting that record against a defense-oriented team like Tech during March Madness is “a testament to our offensive ability,” Richard said. Williams and Johnson each scored 24 points in the game in dynamic fashion, hitting 3's, mid-range jumpers, on the break of on deft drives through traffic in the paint.