LSU’s coaching staff has spent the last three weeks staring at the Valentine’s Day tape. What they saw isn’t pretty — and it maps almost perfectly onto what South Carolina did to Kentucky on Friday. The rematch has the same vulnerabilities on one side. The question is whether the Tigers have actually fixed them.
The Perimeter Problem
On February 14, Tessa Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, including 16 in the first half, going 4-of-5 from three against an LSU perimeter defence that never found an answer. Raven Johnson added a career-high 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in the same game. Two guards combined for 40 points because LSU’s wing defenders repeatedly conceded clean catch-and-shoot opportunities and struggled to track off-ball movement.
On Friday, Tournament Tessa continued right where Valentine’s Day left off — adding 15 points, going 3-of-4 from three, and personally producing a 10-0 second-quarter run that broke Kentucky open. The mechanism was identical: mix up the attack, punish any defensive lapse from range. LSU’s perimeter defence is longer and more athletic than Kentucky’s, but it failed this test three weeks ago in front of a home crowd. Doing so again, in enemy territory, would be fatal.
The Post Nobody Has Matched
Madina Okot averages a double-double against ranked opponents — 13.3 points and 11.5 rebounds — and is currently on an eight-straight double-double streak . In the Valentine’s Day game she had 12 points and 17 rebounds. LSU’s Amiya Joyner matched her on the offensive boards in the fourth quarter to nearly steal the win, but Okot dominated every other phase. The Tigers still haven’t solved her. Until they do, every close game risks the same fourth-quarter implosion.
The Free-Throw Gap That Nearly Wasn’t
The February game’s decisive margin came down to one overlooked column. LSU shot 14-of-23 (60.9%) from the line. South Carolina went 15-of-17 (88.2%). A team that converts at LSU’s rate in a tight tournament game — particularly one playing physically to compensate for its Okot problem — will hand free points to the opposition in critical moments. LSU shot 15-of-25 (60%) from the line on Friday against Oklahoma. That number hasn’t moved. Against a South Carolina team shooting 19-of-26 (73.1%) at the line in Friday’s quarterfinal the margin it creates could again be the difference.
Mikaylah Williams, 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting in the first meeting, says her shot is “finally falling and it’s the right time to be falling” Columbia News . MiLaysia Fulwiley, who shot 1-of-8 that night, insists she doesn’t remember any of it.
The film remembers everything.
No. 3 South Carolina (30-2) vs. No. 6 LSU (27-4) | 4:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2 | Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C.
