GAINSVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Angel Reese had her ninth first-half double-double, Jasmine Carson had a career-high five 3-pointers before the break, and No. 5 LSU raced past Florida 90-79 Sunday.
Reese finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season, two shy of Sylvia Fowles' LSU single-season record. She also had five assists, three blocks and two steals.
Carson also scored 25 points, a career-high, as the graduate transfer from West Virginia went 7 of 14 behind the arc, helping the Tigers to a season-best 11 3s on 20 attempts. The last time LSU had a player hit seven 3-pointers was in 1997.
LaDazhia Williams added 15 and 10 and Flau’jae Johnson scored 12 points for LSU (25-1, 13-1 Southeastern Conference), which let a 16-point halftime lead dwindle to 59-50 after a dismal third quarter. The Tigers were 4 of 15 in the third with seven turnovers.
After the third quarter woes, LSU was 13 of 19 in the fourth, which was enough to stay in front of the hot-shooting Gators, who were 9 of 10 with four 3s, and made 7 of 8 free throws. Reese had nine points in the first five minutes of the quarter to push the lead back to 16 of 73-57.
KK Deans, a West Virginia transfer, matched her career high with 30 points, for the Gators (14-13, 3-11), who have lost five straight. Jordyn Merritt and Ra Shaya Kyle both added 12.
Overall LSU shot 53% to 43% for Florida, which was 17 of 20 from the foul line, outscoring the Tigers by 12.
Reese, who made all four of her shots and Carson, who hit a couple of 3s, both had eight points for a 27-23 lead after one quarter.
In the second quarter Florida was just 3 of 17 and was outscored 20-6 to trail 47-31. Carson had 17 points and Reese had 14 with 13 rebounds as the duo combined to match Florida's total.
UP NEXT
LSU, gunning to match the 2004-05 team with a 27-1 record in the regular season, is at Vanderbilt on Thursday before closing the regular season at home on Sunday against Mississippi State.
Florida is home against Alabama on Thursday.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
