BATON ROUGE, La. – Auburn's Precious Johnson scored a season-high 13 points, but No. 5 LSU was too much as Auburn fell 84-54 Sunday afternoon on the road.
Auburn struggled from the field early and, despite a late third-quarter run, could not catch up to the nation's top-scoring team as LSU showcased its size and speed in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
"We did get some good looks," Auburn head coach Johnnie Harris said. "The difference was when we flipped the floor. When we flipped the floor and were patient on offense, we got better looks. I talked to them about great shots versus good shots. But we were settling for 18-, 17-, 15-footers instead of getting something better.
"I thought our team came in here and competed, and that's what I wanted to see. We can build on that. I'm still looking out on the floor and I've got three or four freshmen (at times). I wanted to see some toughness, and I did. Did we play perfect? No. But a lot of that was because of LSU and because of correctable errors. I thought they fought. Just a few little things we need to do better to be in this ballgame."
Johnson's 13 marked her second game this season in double-figures as she went 5-of-6 from the field and pulled down six rebounds. Freshman Kharyssa Richardson added 10 points and five rebounds. Sydney Shaw and Sania Wells just missed double-digits with nine points apiece, and Honesty Scott-Grayson scored seven points and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds in her return to the starting lineup.
Wells had a team-best three steals, and Scott-Grayson and Jakayla Johnson shared the team lead with three assists apiece.
LSU, the nation's leader in rebounding margin, only had seven more boards than Auburn at 45-38. Auburn also turned 15 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. But LSU shot 47.8 percent while Auburn came in at 36.5 percent. Auburn also had a tough day at the free-throw line, going 6-for-16.
LSU led 41-22 at the half after shooting 53.3 percent in the opening 20 minutes. Auburn had it within single digits after an Oyindamola Akinbolawa layup early in the period, but the Tigers would make just two more shots the rest of the quarter. LSU would then open the third quarter on a 12-4 run to put the game seemingly out of reach.
Auburn would finish the third quarter strong, ending the period on a 13-2 run that was punctuated by a buzzer-beating corner 3-pointer by Shaw to cut the deficit to 60-42; Auburn outscored LSU 20-19 in the third. But LSU would pull away in the fourth, using a 13-2 run midway through the period.
Angel Reese recorded her 18th double-double in as many games with 23 points and 15 rebounds to lead LSU. Jasmine Carson added 18 points for the home Tigers.
The Tigers continue a two-game SEC road swing when they travel to Starkville, Miss., to face Mississippi State Thursday night. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at Humphrey Coliseum.
