LSU women's hoops into Final Four after beating Miami

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Angel Reese had 18 rebounds and LSU Tigers returned to the women's Final Four for the first time in 15 years by beating Miami Hurricanes 54-42 on Sunday night, carrying a rapid rise under second-year coach Kim Mulkey straight to the sport's biggest stage.

Alexis Morris scored 21 points and Reese added 13 for the third-seeded Tigers (32-2), who asserted control of a grinding, defense-first game. LSU's length caused Miami problems even with Reese — an Associated Press first-team All-American — having a brutal shooting day, and the Tigers offset their offensive hiccups by dominating the glass.

LSU shot 30.2% and went 1 for 12 from 3-point range, including misses on its first nine attempts. But Miami was even worse from 3, missing all 15 tries.

The third-seeded Tigers finished with a 49-35 rebounding edge behind Reese, which led to a 15-3 edge in second-chance points — all desperately needed on a day with offensive rebounds readily available.

Mulkey is in her second season at LSU, bringing a resume with three NCAA titles from her time at Baylor along with some flamboyant sideline looks such as her shimmering silver jacket with white pants for this one. She had cautioned that the Tigers were overachieving when they're still strengthening a program for the long haul.

Maybe so, but they're ahead of schedule after pushing their way through the NCAA Tournament's Greenville 2 Region. The Tigers head to Dallas to face Ohio State or Virginia Tech in Friday's national semifinals.

When the horn sounded, Mulkey turned to her bench and leaned forward to put her hands on her knees as though in disbelief. Players soon began running to midcourt to celebrate — except for Morris running straight to the scorer's table and