Angel Reese’s double-double, Johnson’s scoring, lifts LSU over MTSU 83-56 in NCAA Tournament’s 2nd round

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds and third-seeded LSU responded to a nine-point third-quarter deficit with a dominant finish to defeat upstart No. 11 seed Middle Tennessee 83-56 in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Flau’Jae Johnson scored 21 for the Tigers (30-5) and played central role in helping LSU surge to a comfortable second-half lead that ended the Blue Raiders’ 20-game winning streak. The decisive victory came one day after LSU coach Kim Mulkey railed against the Washington Post — and threatened potential legal action — for what she described as an impending “hit piece” against her and promised that it would not derail her team’s preparation for NCAA Tournament games. MTSU (30-5) led 41-32 and looked primed to widen the gap when Reese tripped over a fallen teammate on an attempted layup and crashed hard to the court, sending the Blue Raiders on a 5-on-4 fast break the other way. But Jalynn Gregory’s open 3 bounced off the back rim to LSU guard Last-Tear Poa, who fired the ball down court, where Reese had just gotten to her feet and made an uncontested layup. That play spawned...