Flau'Jae Johnson returns, leads LSU Tigers to convincing win - ESPN

BATON ROUGE, La. — Flau'Jae Johnson scored 22 points, Aneesah Morrow had 12 points and 12 rebounds, and LSU overwhelmed San Diego State 103-48 on Saturday night in the opening round of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Morrow increased her nation-leading double-double tally to 28 in her first game since hurting her left foot during a March 8 loss to Texas in the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Johnson, who missed that tournament with a right shin injury, wore a compression sleeve over her lower leg but exhibited the explosiveness, shooting touch and all-around panache that has made her one of the most popular players in college basketball.

«I told myself when I came back that I wanted to be the energy for the team,» Johnson said. «I know that's what we needed.»

Mikaylah Williams added 13 points for LSU (29-5), the third seed in the Spokane 1 Region that now moves on to host No. 6 seed Florida State on Monday night. Along the way, Tigers coach Kim Mulkey improved to 22-1 in NCAA tournament openers.

«I think your word — unselfish — is pretty spot-on,» Mulkey said of her team's effort in responding to a question during her postgame media availability. «And I said that to them in a timeout. We had a lot of ball reversal, we shared the ball.

»I thought that everybody was excited, everybody was excited for each other. And when everybody gets to play — and contribute — they all go home feeling good."

San Diego State (25-10), winner of the Mountain West Conference, did not have a player score as many as 10 points. Adryana Quezada led the Aztecs with eight.

LSU began the game with an 11-0 run capped by Johnson's steal and layup, which she celebrated by blowing a kiss toward the student section behind the basket.

Sa'Myah Smith's