Aneesah Morrow leads undefeated No. 6 LSU to 73-63 win over Auburn

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Aneesah Morrow had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 6 LSU to a 73-63 victory over Auburn on Sunday.

Morrow, a senior who leads the nation in rebounding (14 per game) and double-doubles (15), kept the Tigers unbeaten (17-0, 2-0 SEC) as they continued their second-best start in school history. Reserve Kailyn Gilbert added 17 and Flau’Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams contributed 12 and 10 points respectively. Auburn (9-6, 0-2) was led by DeYona Gaston, who scored 16 points in 16 minutes after spending most of the day in foul trouble.



Takeaways Auburn: Gaston, the nation’s sixth-leading scorer who entered the day averaging 23.2 points, was smothered by LSU’s defense and foul problems. She scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Without Gaston providing defensive rim protection, LSU outscored Auburn 44-30 in the paint. LSU: The Tigers got a boost from Gilbert (Arizona) and Mjracle Sheppard (Mississippi State), their backup guards acquired this season from the transfer portal. Gilbert’s explosive 1-on-1 offense provided well-timed injections in the second and third quarters, and Sheppard’s harassing defense made life difficult for Auburn’s perimeter players.

Key moment After trailing 16-11 at the end of the first quarter, LSU hammered Auburn 27-8 in the second period for a 38-24 halftime lead. Gilbert came off the bench and outscored Auburn by herself with 11 points. Key stat LSU went 0-for-6 from 3-point range, the first time this season the Tigers went scoreless behind the arc.

Up next On Thursday, Auburn hosts Arkansas (7-10, 0-2 SEC) while LSU travels to No. 15 Tennessee (13-1, 1-1). ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season.

Sign up here . AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.

com/hub/womens-college-basketball Ron Higgins, The Associated Press.