GREENVILLE, S.C. — It was too much to overcome.
LSU women's basketball's leading scorer Flau'jae Johnson was already sitting out the SEC Tournament with shin inflammation. LSU coach Kim Mulkey was away from the team in the leadup to the start of player in the conference tournament due to an unexpected death in the family .
Then worst case scenario hit the No. 3 seed Tigers early in the third quarter against No. 2 Texas when a second one of their stars, senior forward Aneesah Morrow, injured her left foot on a drive to the basket and she got tangled up with Texas center Taylor Jones. Morrow wasn't able to return, remaining in the locker room the rest of the game.
Add all of that on top of LSU having one of its worst shooting performances of the season and it couldn't find enough to overtake the Longhorns. LSU fell short 56-49 to Texas in the SEC Tournament semifinals inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday night.
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LSU (28-5) managed to shoot 31.4% as no player other than Morrow, before she exited the game with the foot injury, and sophomore sensation Mikaylah Williams scored double-digit points. Williams posted 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker led the way for Texas, scoring 25 points, which was nearly as many points LSU scored as a team in the second half at 26.
HOW TO WATCH LSU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL IN SEC TOURNAMENT
TV channel: ESPN2
South Carolina women's basketball vs. Vanderbilt will be broadcast on SEC Network with Caroline Peck and Courtney Lyle on the call.
Streaming options for the game include FUBO and ESPN+ .
Texas 79, LSU 66: The absence of Flau'jae Johnson will be felt for LSU matching up with the SEC's best defensive team. Couple that with LSU's inability to get stops on the defensive end and LSU falls to Texas in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Aneesah Morrow exits with injury as LSU falls to Texas in SEC Tournament
