NC State women’s basketball’s plans for a second straight Women’s Final Four appearance took an inopportune detour Friday night in Spokane, Washington.
Led by senior Aneesah Morrow, No. 3-seed LSU earned a hard-fought Sweet 16 victory over second-seeded NC State, 80-73. The Tigers are back in the Elite Eight for the third straight season.
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Morrow finished with a double-double, scoring a game-high 30 points to go with 18 rebounds. Sa’Myah Smith added 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Mikaylah Williams had 19.
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Down 57-53 to start the fourth, Zoe Brooks had six points as part of a 12-3 NC State run to give it a five-point fourth quarter lead. However, LSU closed on a 16-4 run to advance.
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Brooks led NC State with 21 points, with freshman Zamareya Jones adding 13. Aziaha James had 12.
In its second-round win over Michigan State, the Wolfpack made 11-of-16 shots in the first quarter on their way to 27 points. Friday was a much different story, NC State shooting 5-of-17 from the field while scoring 15 points.
NC State punched back in the second, though. A personal 11-0 run by Jones igniting a second-quarter rally which allowed the Wolfpack to go into halftime with a 40-36 lead.
Down 11 at one point in the first quarter, Jones hit two 3-pointers during a second period in which the Wolfpack outscored LSU by 12 points. She’d add another 3-pointer later in the quarter, followed by a dazzling lead which gave her team its first lead since the game’s early moments.
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NC State led by as many as six points early in the third, but the advantage wouldn’t last.
Morrow started the third by scoring nine of her team’s first 15 points in the second half. The Tigers twice led by six points in the third, settling for a 57-53 lead after three quarter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State women’s basketball loses to LSU in Sweet 16 of March Madness
