It was an absolute tear-jerker for LSU fans as the Lady Tigers fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks. In crunch time, LSU’s best player could not be on the court.

With a sold-out PMAC, LSU fans were pumped for the top 10 matchup. It got especially loud when the Purple and Gold took an early lead, which was jump started by Aneesah Morrow. She had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

“I said all I want to do is come back to this state and do something positive,” Coach Kim Mulkey said.

“Little did I know at that time we would do what we have done in such a short period of time. So now we have probably created a monster. We have to keep feeding it.”

It all came down to the fourth quarter after South Carolina tied it up with about six minutes left. For the next two minutes, LSU hung in there, but ultimately they could not get the job done without Angel Reese. She fouled out with four minutes left, which left the Tigers without their star.

“That was a big hit for us,” Flau’jae Johnson said. “Going in the end, we had four minutes left and that’s too much time to not have Angel Reese on the floor. [She has] experience and we had turnovers. So that’s what you get.”

After Reese fouled out, South Carolina’s Bree Hall made two crucial three-pointers that gave the Gamecocks the edge to seal the deal. Hailey Van Lith kept LSU in the game by matching one of them, but after Hall’s second, it was all South Carolina from there.

Although this team does not believe in moral victories, it was a good opportunity to see how they match up against top competition. Their next matchup is in Starkville where they will take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Jan. 29.