The Auburn Tigers caused a monumental upset in the NCAA women’s division as they ended the 16-game winning streak of the reigning national champions in a riveting contest. Apparently, the defending champions LSU Tigers suffered their second defeat as Auburn secured a historic 67-62 victory at home. Unfortunately, a double-double from Reese (24 points and 10 rebounds) and Morrow (12 points and 15 rebounds) wasn’t enough to get LSU over the line.

The Auburn Tigers hosted their sisters from the Louisiana State in a high-octane SEC clash on Sunday. While LSU was coming off their third consecutive conference victory over Texas A&M, Auburn had a disappointing outing against the Rebels. However, the tables turned in a nerve-racking SEC fixture as Auburn capitalized on their home conditions to realize probably the best night of their 2023-24 NCAA campaign.

LSU goes down fighting

Despite the initial LSU chants at the Auburn Arena, it was the home Tigers who made a better start to the game. LSU’s vulnerable defense was caught off guard again as Auburn got the early lead over the defending champions. JaMya Mingo-Young and Kaitlyn Duhon troubled the visitors with their coast-to-coast efficiency and pin-point beyond the arc accuracy.

Consequently, the opening quarter ended with the home team sitting firmly on the driver’s seat with an 8-point lead. However, the Lady Tigers roared their way back into the game in the second quarter. Some magical chemistry between Morrow and Reese along with some brilliance from their freshman Mikalyla Williams architected a 10-0 LSU very quickly into the second quarter.

But, the home team didn’t back down and didn’t let LSU run away with the momentum. As a result, the half-time came to a thrilling end with LSU leading Auburn 37-34.

Morrow started the second half by committing some unnecessary fouls that gave the advantage back to the home team. Nonetheless, some terrific field play basketball from the Lady Tigers further gripped the matchup. The battle was evens-stevens until the All-American forward Angel Reese crossed the 20-point mark and gave LSU the lead by the close of the third quarter. Following this, the back-and-forth battle got more intense in the penultimate quarter. Eventually, it was Auburn who held their nerves in the end and got the better off LSU’s defensive lapses to come out the better team.

What went wrong for the defending champs?

Head coach Kim Mulkey has hinted about her team’s poor defensive front in their previous encounters as well. Consequently, her observations about LSU’s gray areas were spot on as Auburn was able to breach through. In addition to this, LSU were behind Auburn in terms of their field goal shooting. They were 23 of 55 (41.8%) from the field which was way below their overall average of 49.7. Further, they also failed to convert none of their 3 attempts from the 3-point range.

Read More- Angel Reese, LSU Tigers Continue 16-Game Winning Streak vs Texas A&M

It was a tough night for the Lady Tigers in this cliff-hanging SEC encounter. Nonetheless, they can take this loss as a valuable lesson and come out better when they take on Alabama next.

What are your thoughts on LSU’s defeat? Let us know in the comments section.

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