Johnson & Johnson get it done: South Carolina WBB leans on veterans to beat LSU
Who can guard Tessa?
That was the question LSU head women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey asked her team Saturday night during a timeout in the third quarter of South Carolina’s game vs. LSU.
Well, Mulkey frankly did more than just ask the question. She pleaded with her team, looked around the huddle and yelled the question.
The answer, to that point in the game, was no one.
Tessa Johnson scored 16 points in the first half of South Carolina’s 79-72 win over LSU in Baton Rouge.
“I liked everything we did, except I didn’t like the way we guarded Tessa,” Mulkey said after the game.
Johnson ended up scoring 21 points in the game. She was 8 for 13 from the field and notched four 3-pointers (three of which came in the second quarter).
Johnson became the first South Carolina player with consecutive 20-point games against Top-10 opponents since Aliyah Boston in the 2019-2020 season, per ESPN Insights.
“She was our offense, to be quite honest,” coach Dawn Staley said. “I thought we did a really good job force-feeding her the ball because she was hot. I thought Tessa did a great job getting herself open and square to the basket. It doesn’t take long [the ball is] not on her fingers long before she’s launching it. We’re very fortunate that she was very efficient, because we needed to stay close, especially with the type of crowd that they had.”
Tessa Johnson may have led South Carolina in points and minutes played but she wasn’t the only Gamecock with that last name to make a big impact in the win.
South Carolina veteran point guard Raven Johnson played arguably just much, if not more, of a role in beating LSU. The elder Johnson played 36 minutes in the game, a minute less than Tessa.
Raven Johnson helped guide South Carolina in the final minutes of the game. She finished with a career-high 19 points in the win and led the Gamecocks with six points in the fourth quarter.
“Raven Johnson is a winner,” Staley told ESPN. “Look it up in the dictionary. Look it up on your iPhones. Raven Johnson is a winner. She makes plays — winning plays — and she did that tonight.”
Johnson was crucial to South Carolina’s 6-0 run in the final moments that iced the game.
She was responsible for the assist on Madina Okot’s bucket that gave South Carolina a 75-72 lead with 25 seconds left. Johnson then added two free throws with seven seconds left that made it 79-72 and effectively ended the game.
“We put the ball in Raven Johnson’s hands to make a play,” Staley said. “We put it in a couple of people’s hands and we got good looks. But when it was down to that last possession, Raven was either going to play make for herself, or play make for her teammate. And fortunately, Madina snuck behind the defense to give her a little layup. ”
Raven Johnson’s final stat line was impressive. She ended with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and added four steals.
This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Johnson & Johnson get it done: South Carolina WBB leans on veterans to beat LSU."
