LSU pulls away from NC State to reach Elite Eight in womens March Madness

SPOKANE, Wash.— Third-seeded LSU punched its ticket to the Elite Eight with an 80-73 win against second-seeded NC State on Friday. Aneesah Morrow led the Tigers with 30 points and 19 rebounds.

Sa’Myah Smith, who knocked in some critical free throws down the stretch to put the game out of the Wolfpacks’ reach, added 21 points and 11 rebounds. Down by four at the end of the third quarter, NC State opened the final frame with a 12-3 run to regain the lead.Bad fouls and frustration seemed to have the Tigers disjointed. But LSU trimmed the Wolfpack’s lead to one before Mikaylah Williams made the go-ahead layup with 1:07 left.Smith made a pair of free throws to give the Tigers a 76-73 lead with 44.7 seconds remaining and LSU held on from there. Want to tune into as much March Madness as you can? DIRECTV Stream and Hulu + Live TV both have you covered with every channel you’ll need, plus free trials.NC State sophomore Zoe Brooks scored 11 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, but her heroics fell short. The Tigers dominated the paint, outscoring NC State 42-22 in that area.They also won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Wolfpack 52-36.LSU will play the winner of the UCLA-Ole Miss game for a chance at a Final Four. ...