BATON ROUGE — Can LSU women's basketball make another deep run in March Madness?
Billed as one of the top teams in the 2025 NCAA Tournament again, coach Kim Mulkey and her Tigers certainly have the capability, thanks to a trio of stars in Flau'jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow and Mikaylah Williams.
LSU in the No. 3 seed in the Spokane 1 Region and will tip off March Madness action against No. 14 seed San Diego State (25-9) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament bracket Saturday. A win would move the Tigers to the second round where they would play the winner of No. 6 seed Florida State and No. 11 seed George Monday.
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Here's why LSU can — and can't — reach the Final Four for the second time in three seasons under Mulkey:
The Tigers boast three of the more prolific scorers in women's college basketball in junior guard Flau'jae Johnson, senior forward Aneesah Morrow and sophomore sensation Mikaylah Williams. Each have the ability to take over games.
LSU's mutli-level scoring from its "big three" makes it one of the hardest teams to guard in March Madness and that can easily get to the Final Four.
LSU played the Wolfpack earlier this season in The Bahamas and the Tigers won 82-65. Mulkey and her team met UCLA, who is this year's No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, in the Sweet 16 in Albany, New York. LSU rallied to win that game 78-69.
Assistant coach Bob Starkey knows how to scout both of the top seeds in their regional and that familiarity can pay dividends.
Both Morrow and Johnson were still sporting walking boots on Selection Sunday. Their health and how well close they can get to full go will be one of the more intriguing storylines to watch for the first couple of rounds of March Madness.
If LSU's dynamic duo aren't 100%, the team's chances of beating good teams dramatically decreases.
LSU's defense has been pretty porous the past couple weeks of the regular season and into the SEC Tournament. Teams have scored 79 points per game on LSU in the past five, marking one of the worst stretches since Mulkey has taken over in Baton Rouge.
If LSU's defense hasn't improved, it will be vulnerable when facing teams which have natural scorers like Florida State, which has the nation's leading scorer in Ta'Niya Latson averaging 24.9 points per game. That could make the Tigers an early exit.
LSU women's basketball makes Elite 8: Because the matchup against Florida State happens in the PMAC, home court advantage comes through in the end for the Tigers to get back to the regional tournament. There, LSU out runs NC State en route to advancing to the Elite 8 for the third straight season.
LSU hangs tough but No. 1 overall seed UCLA holds on to outlast the Tigers for the Final Four.
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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: LSU women's basketball March Madness bracket predictions for 2025
