Aneesah Morrow returned to the court after taking a hard accidental shot to the nose on Sunday afternoon. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers via Getty Images)
While her team fell just short on Sunday afternoon, Aneesah Morrow didn’t let a bloody nose get in her way in the Elite Eight.
The LSU star had a bloody nose in the second half of the Tigers’ 72-65 loss to No. 1 UCLA on Sunday afternoon at Spokane Arena in Washington. That knocked them out of the NCAA women’s tournament and sent the Bruins, who earned the No. 1 overall seed in the event, into the Final Four.
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Morrow briefly went down after taking an accidental shot directly to the nose from teammate Sa’Myah Smith, who was trying to guard UCLA star Lauren Betts at the time. Morrow crashed down to the court, clearly shaken up.
ESPN’s Holly Rowe quickly reported that Morrow had broken her nose, but Morrow said after the game that it was just bleeding after the incident. Either way, she checked back in for the start of the fourth quarter as if nothing had happened.
Morrow then finished out the game as planned. She ended up with 15 points and seven rebounds while shooting 7-of-19 from the field.
Morrow went off in the Sweet 16 to get the Tigers to the Elite Eight on Sunday. She dropped 30 points and had 19 rebounds in their comeback win over NC State on Friday. It marked her second-highest scoring game of the season and her best night in the NCAA tournament in her career. The senior entered Sunday’s game averaging 18.8 points and 13.7 rebounds per contest. She was listed as the No. 7 overall prospect in ESPN’s latest WNBA mock draft, which would have her going to the Connecticut Sun later this spring.
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Despite a good outing from Morrow, and a 28-point performance from star Flau’Jae Johnson, the Tigers simply couldn’t keep pace with UCLA late on Sunday. The Bruins held on in the final few minutes to escape with the seven-point win and earn their first-ever trip to a Final Four. Gabriela Jaquez led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Betts finished with 17 points.
Mikaylah Williams was the only other Tigers player to hit double figures in the loss. She finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. LSU has now been to the Elite Eight three straight times, including their national championship run in 2023.
While they didn’t get the win, Morrow at least got to finish out her college career on the court. That has to count for something.
