No. 12 LSU women’s hoops hands No. 2 Texas its first loss

Only three undefeated teams remain in Division I women’s basketball as No. 2 Texas was defeated Sunday 70-65 against No. 12 LSU.

It was the Tigers’ first win over an Associated Press Top 2 team since 2008, when LSU beat North Carolina in the NCAA Elite Eight, according to ESPN Research. Since then, LSU has lost 17 straight games against top 2 teams.

The remaining undefeated teams are No. 1 UConn, No. 7 Vanderbilt and No. 17 Texas Tech, all of whom won this weekend. Vanderbilt is the only Division I school whose women’s and men’s teams are both undefeated.

After starting 14-0, LSU lost its first two SEC games on January 1 and 4 against Kentucky and Vanderbilt. But the Tigers bounced back with wins Thursday at Georgia and Sunday at home. Guard Mikaylah Williams led LSU with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists. Four other LSU players scored 10 points each.

“We knew in those last few games we were losing, we were beating ourselves,” Williams told ESPN. “We wanted to take care of the ball, be disciplined, box out, rebound. That’s what we did. Until the end, we stayed together.”

The Tigers overwhelmed the Longhorns 44-35. Center Kyla Oldacre had 16 points and 16 rebounds for Texas, and forward Madison Booker had 24 and 7. But Booker also had six of Texas’ season-high 17 turnovers. Texas starting point guard Rori Harmon struggled, going 1 of 7 from the field and finishing with a season-low two points. Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer kept Harmon on the bench through the fourth quarter.

“We played better, didn’t we?” Schaefer spoke about the decision after the Longhorns scored 26 points in the final quarter, compared to 11, 14 and 14 in the first three. “Rori just wasn’t playing very well. It wasn’t her best day. And I was really disappointed offensively with what we were doing. Unfortunately, when you’re a point guard, you have to carry it a little bit.

“They played a lot harder than us, and they were a lot tougher than us. By far our worst game of the year, and we give them credit for that. I thought we played a really selfish game.”

The week doesn’t get any easier for Texas, which travels to No. 3 South Carolina on Thursday (ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET). LSU plays again next Sunday, traveling to No. 5 Oklahoma.

LSU and Texas will meet again this season on February 5 in Austin, Texas (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET).