Led by Chloe Kitts, South Carolina Stop Angel Reese’s LSU Train in 1st Home Defeat

Dawn Staley’s South Carolina conquered LSU’s fort in a hard-fought 76-70 victory at the PMAC. Sophomore forward Chloe Kitts stole the show as she delivered a match-winning 14 points and 3 rebounds to seal the deal for the Gamecocks on Thursday night.

A valiant double-double from Aneesah Morrow (16 points and 10 rebounds) and 15 points and 8 rebounds from Angel Reese couldn’t save the day for the defending champions as they suffered a heartbreaking loss at home.

LSU humbled at home

Aneesah Morrow got the LSU off to a confident start. The talented No.24 was quick to get into double digits and did most of the scoring for the home team. After this, Reese joined her and both of them got LSU on a 9-0 run with just 2 minutes left in the opening quarter. The hometown Tigers kept their distance with their impressive offensive rebounds in play. However, senior guard Te-Hina Paopao buried a 3 at the buzzer to keep the difference to just six points.

Following this, Reese got relentless at the start of the second quarter.The All-American forward became the second LSU Tiger after Morrow to reach a double-digit score. Moreover, Flau’jae Johnson with a coast-to-coast followed by a three-pointer handed the Gamecocks their biggest deficit this season. However, South Carolina’s wonder kid MiLaysia Fulwiley connected two shots from beyond the arc to keep the score 41-36 at half-time.

The visitors started to make their way back into the contest by closing in on the gap. They breached through LSU’s vulnerable defense and got the lead down to just a single point very early into the second half. Nonetheless, Morrow and Reese didn’t have their guard down and kept LSU ahead. Consequently, the Lady Tigers didn’t lose their advantage despite the brute physicality shown by the Gamecocks.

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However, South Carolina made full use of their final 10 minutes and ended up scoring 24 points to hand LSU their first defeat in their backyard.

A late fightback by the Gamecocks

Despite trailing in the first three quarters, South Carolina repeatedly kept coming back and didn’t let the game slip away at any stage. Consequently, a late surge led by Raven Johnson, Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts and Te-Hina Paopao ultimately resulted in getting them ahead and holding on to the lead till the final buzzer. Eventually, they scored 10 more points than LSU in the penultimate quarter and came out victorious.

It was a tough day at the office for Angel Reese and Co. This home defeat marks their second conference loss and a third defeat overall. Nonetheless, fans will be hoping they can regroup and get back on track in their next fixture against MS State.

What are your thoughts on the game? Let us know in the comments section.

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