Flau’jae Johnson’s final moment at LSU doesn’t define her storied career
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With just 5:11 left in Friday night’s Sweet 16, Flau’jae Johnson wasn’t going to let her story end this way. Even after trailing by 10 points to Duke, she wasn’t willing to accept failure for LSU.
“(The mindset was) we’re not going to lose,” Johnson said. “We’re going to claw, we’re going to fight, the game’s not over. … We had been in that position before, and we folded.
We were like, ‘We don’t want to do that no more, so let’s go,’ and that’s what we did. ” Johnson was flying over the scorer’s table with just over a minute left, trailing by then by only three. But after Duke guard Ashlon Jackson’s 3-pointer at the buzzer went in for an 87-85 victory, Johnson walked away dejectedly with her hands on her forehead as the Blue Devils celebrated behind her.
Johnson had been defending Jackson on the shot, which rolled around the rim, leaving fans at Golden 1 Arena holding their breath. Does the loss stain the legacy of Johnson, an All-American and former national champion with the Tigers? “I don’t know right now,” Johnson said, holding back tears in the locker room.
“I feel like I just let everybody down. ” Since Angel Reese’s departure in 2024, Johnson’s swagger has become LSU’s animating force. She surged, and the group she called “the one to do it with” followed.