Booker and No. 3 Texas rally from poor shooting start to beat No. 5 LSU 65-58

Audio By Carbonatix

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Madison Booker scored 16 points, including four consecutive free throws in the final 24 seconds, and No. 3 Texas overcame a woeful shooting start to rally for a 65-58 victory over No. 5 LSU on Sunday.

Texas was just 7 of 37 shooting in the first half and trailed by as much as 12 in the third quarter. Booker, the Longhorns' leading scorer this season, missed all 11 shot attempts in the first half after averaging nearly 21 points over the previous nine games.

But Texas (26-2, 11-1 SEC) fought through the slow start to take a 50-49 lead on Bryanna Preston's basket with just under 6 minutes to play and never trailed again.

Rori Harmon's consecutive baskets pushed the Texas lead to 61-56 before Booker closed out Texas' 10th straight victory. Texas also earned its third win over a top-10 opponent in a eight days.

Aneesah Morrow had 15 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Tigers (25-2, 10-2).

LSU: The Tigers let the Longhorns back in the game with a run of fouls in the third quarter. Texas scored eight of its last 10 points in the quarter from the free throw line stay within five heading into the fourth.

Texas: Freshman guard Justice Carlton got her first career start and finished with five points and six rebounds in 17 minutes. One of the top recruits in the country, the 6-foot-1 guard averages 6.2 points and had hardly seen the floor over the last few weeks. She had played just eight minutes over the previous six games.

After Preston swished a 3-pointer with 1 minute left in the first half, Texas started the third quarter with an 8-0 scoring run.

Texas went 21 of 21 from the free throw line.

Texas plays at Georgia on Feb. 24 while LSU hosts Georgia on Thursday.

___

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