BATON ROUGE – Sensations Flau’jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow are on track to have monster seasons, and their team will need them to in order for LSU women’s basketball to have a shot at another deep run in the 2024-25 season.
Kim Mulkey enters her fourth season as the Tigers’ head coach and is set to lead a team that’s without star Angel Reese, but has plenty of experience and star power with Johnson and Morrow.
No. 7 LSU tips off the season against Eastern Kentucky inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Monday night (7 p.m., SEC Network+).
With the season upon, let’s make some bold predictions for how things will play out for the Tigers.
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Think about the run Johnson just had in last season’s NCAA Tournament run for LSU, scoring more than 20 points in her last three games, while filling up the stat sheet in all categories. She averaged 20.5 points per game, 6.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal in March Madness.
Johnson posted an average of 14.9 point and 5.5 rebounds all of last year, while averaging 14.5 points and five rebounds just in SEC play.
While it was already solid, Johnson’s defensive effort is expected to be even better as she enters her third year at LSU. And with the improved all-around game, Johnson will take home Player of the Year honors, a monumental feat considering the bevy of stars in the women’s game this season.
Aneesah Morrow breaks Angel Reese’s double-double record
Morrow will head into this season shouldering the task of handling and cleaning up most of the paint work for the Tigers.
The senior will be up for the challenge as her motor is second to none on Mulkey’s team. With Morrow assuming the lead role in the post in 2024-25 after the departure of Reese, she will be put in better spots to score.
She already has one of the best rebounding prowess. Because of that, Morrow takes down her former teammate Reese’s NCAA record for double-double in a single season that she set two eyes ago with 34.
Freshman point guard Jada Richard finishes top five in scoring on team
As Johnson said after the team’s first exhibition game this preseason, freshman guard Jada Richard “is not scared.”
Richard has come into Mulkey’s program as recruit that Mulkey was happy to land. Rated the 93rd best prospect in the 2024 class, it feels Richard was underrated and that ranking is likely due to her not playing many AAU circuits and in travel basketball.
But the 5-foot-7 point guard fills a need for this LSU team and she fits perfectly with Mulkey and her system. She can create space for herself to score and she will be a top-five scorer on the team.
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I have concerns about the longevity of this season’s squad. Mainly in the post.
If Morrow finds herself in foul trouble on any given night, LSU will have to rely on Sa’Myah Smith, who suffered a knee injury less than a year ago and sophomore Aalyah Del Rosario, who’s had two offseason surgeries. Smith was playing well prior to going down with the injury last season but she still hasn’t been in a prominent role in huge games.
While Morrow is capable of dominating the glass, against some of teams and front courts LSU could see in the NCAA Tournament, she can’t do it by herself. The lack of depth inside bites the Tigers in the Big Dance.
LSU will lead the SEC in scoring defense
Adding Mississippi State transfer guard Mjracle Sheppard to the established defensive efforts of Johnson, Morrow, Mikaylah Williams and Last-Tear Poa, LSU has the capability to be have one of the stingiest defenses in the country this season.
The Tigers have a defender that can lock down an opposing team’s best player at just about each level.
And that’ll likely be key as I could see LSU, especially in conference play, having to win some low-scoring games.
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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: Our 5 boldest LSU women’s basketball predictions for 2024-25 season
