Kim Mulkey earns 700th career win as No. 7 LSU women's basketball bests No. 9 Virginia Tech (2024)

BATON ROUGE — Head coach Kim Mulkey earned her 700th career win on Thursday night in the PMAC as the No. 7 LSU women’s basketball team took down the No. 9 Virginia Tech Hokies, 82-64. Mulkey became the fastest, in men’s or women’s basketball, to reach the 700-mark as a head coach.

Aneesah Morrow led the Tigers once again as she recorded her fourth double-double of the season, the third in a row. The ESPN Player of the Week scored 19 and hauled in 15 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Morrow was a force on both ends Thursday night as she helped dominate the glass against a much bigger Virginia Tech team.

THAT’S OUR COACH

The quickest ever to 700 wins! pic.twitter.com/KdGjbze9mp

— LSU Women's Basketball (@LSUwbkb) December 1, 2023

Mikaylah Williams dropped 20 points on 9-15 from the field and added 5 assists. Williamm’s Thursday night performance marked the third time she has amounted to 20 points or more this year. The Freshman continued to shine in big moments as she led the Tigers in scoring in both the second and third quarters.

Angel Reese and Flau’Jae Johnson both scored in double figures to contribute to the 18-point victory. Reese totaled 9 rebounds and scored 9 in the final quarter to finish 1-point shy of the 20-point mark. Johnson dropped 13 points and had 8 rebounds to record her fifth double-digit game of the season.

The dynamic duo of Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley led the Hokies all over the floor. Amoore led all scorers with 25 points on 11-24 from the field. Kitley finished with a double-double as she earned 16 points and 11 boards before fouling out halfway through the fourth quarter.

After a slow start, LSU improved its 27-percent FG in the first quarter to finish 50 percent from the field overall. The Tigers fought hard down low as they out-rebounded the Hokies 43-29 and scored 32 points in the paint. LSU had 9 steals and 15 assists as an entire team effort boosted a comeback from dropping the first quarter.

The Tigers will take next week off before hosting UL-Lafayette on Sunday afternoon in the PMAC to begin a three-game home slate before making one final road trip ahead of conference play.

Amoore led the Hokies through the opening six minutes with 7 points on 3-4 from the field as her squad held a 15-8 lead at the first media timeout. LSU forced VT to a span of 1-7 from the field as Morrow scored four to keep the Tigers within double figures. The LSU defense forced three pivotal turnovers in the final two minutes of the opening quarter to enter the second trailing 20-13. The Tigers started cold, shooting just 27 percent in the first quarter compared to Virginia Tech’s 42 percent.

LSU opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run through the first three minutes to tie the game at 20 as VT started 0-6 from the field. After Carliegh Wenzel regained the Hokie lead, Johnson responded with a triple of her own 20 seconds later. Both teams traded buckets to knot things up at 27 before the media timeout. Two made free throws from Last-Tear Poa gave LSU its first lead of the night, 31-27. The Tigers extended its run to 8-0 and held VT without a field goal for the final five minutes of the half. LSU took a 35-29 lead into the break as it was boosted by a 50-percent shooting average from the field in the second. The Hokies were outscored 22-9 and only connected on 3-16 for 18.8 percent.

LSU went on a 4-0 to start the third that saw Morrow pick up her tenth board of the night and secure her third straight double-double. Williams, Hailey Van Lith, and Johnson combined for 4 of its last 4 from the field to take a 14-point lead and force a Hokie timeout. Amoore went on to score 10 points in the third quarter to lessen the VT margin to 13 points. All five starters contributed scoring in the third quarter as LSU held a 61-48 advantage before the final 10 minutes of play.

After opening the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run, Johnson gave LSU its largest lead of the night, 19 points, just before the media timeout. LSU held its lead for the entirety of the final quarter as it went 50 percent from the field to outscore VT 21-14. All five starters scored in the fourth as the five put together a true team win for LSU’s 8th victory of the season.