That Aneesah Morrow grabbed her 19th and final rebound of the game as time nearly expired Friday evening was fitting. The ball clearly belonged in the hands of the player who had thrown this team on her back time and again this season.
Late in the game, as NC State had jockeyed for positioning trying to close out the game, things looked perilous for LSU. Outside of Morrow, none of the Tigers had been thoroughly consistent through four quarters. Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU’s leading scorer, had been held scoreless until the third quarter, and a fourth-quarter collision would sideline her for the rest of the game. Mikaylah Williams, the third member of LSU’s big three with Morrow and Johnson, had started the game cold, going 4 of 14 from the floor for just 9 points through the first three quarters.
Meanwhile, NC State had a carousel of players stepping up and shouldering the load, never allowing LSU’s brief leads to balloon too much, mounting its own late comeback to lead for most of the fourth quarter.
In a late timeout, Morrow looked at her teammates and implored them: Take your matchups personally. Do not let that person beat you. And if everyone does that individually, LSU will not lose as a team. Take it personally.
It seemed that if Morrow could’ve physically taken some…
