Reese leads LSU past Hawaii in March Madness opening round
LSU forward Angel Reese (10) shoots against Hawaii forward Imani Perez (12) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, March 17, 2023. Credit: AP/Matthew Hinton
BATON ROUGE, La. — Angel Reese had 34 points and 15 rebounds — her 29th double-double this season — and third seeded LSU defeated No. 14 seed Hawaii 73-50 on Friday night in the first round of the women's NCAA Tournament.
Flau'Jae Johnson scored 10 for LSU (29-2), which raced to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and maintained a comfortable lead most of the way.
The Tigers advanced to a second-round match-up on Sunday with sixth seeded Michigan (23-9), a 71-59 winner over 11 seed UNLV earlier Friday.
Reese, an All-America forward, was a force in the paint, as usual, and also was effective defending on the perimeter. She was 13 of 20 shooting, hit 8 of 12 free throws and also had three blocks and three steals.
LSU outscored Hawaii 44-16 in the paint and outrebounded the Rainbow Wahine 40-33.
Kallin Spiller and Daejah Phillips each scored 13 for Hawaii (18-15) which was held 10 points below its average scoring total for the season. Lily Wahinekapu scored 11 for the Rainbow Wahine.
BIG PICTURE
LSU forward Angel Reese (10) celebrates with guard Last-Tear Poa (13) and guard Flau'jae Johnson, right, during the first half of the team's first-round college basketball game against Hawaii in the women's NCAA Tournament in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, March 17, 2023. Credit: AP/Matthew Hinton
Hawaii: Were held to 31% (16 of 52) shooting overall and made just seven of 32 attempts from 3-point range.
LSU: Reese grabbed six of her rebounds on the offensive end, helping LSU score 17 second-chance points. ... The Tigers won comfortably despite missing 13 of 14 3-point shots. ... LSU has now gone 55-8 since three-time national champion coach Kim Mulkey left Baylor to coach the Tigers before the 2021-22 season.
