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Flau'jae Johnson Wows Fans with Insane LSU Exhibition Performance

LSU Tigers star Flau'jae Johnson was deep in her bag during an exhibition game on Thursday.

Grant Young

Apr 1, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; LSU Lady Tigers guard Flau'jae Johnson (4) reacts in the second quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the finals of the Albany Regional in the 2024 NCAA Tournament at MVP Arena. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
Apr 1, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; LSU Lady Tigers guard Flau'jae Johnson (4) reacts in the second quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the finals of the Albany Regional in the 2024 NCAA Tournament at MVP Arena. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

With superstar and reigning SEC Player of the Year Angel Reese now in the WNBA, there was a lot of question within the women's college basketball community about how the LSU Tigers would fare this season.

In addition to losing Reese, star guard Hailey Van Lith transferred out of LSU in favor of TCU. Therefore, the Tigers would have to rely on guard Flau'jae Johnson to manufacture offense this season.

And if there were any concerns that Johnson would be able to lead Kim Mulkey's LSU squad this season, those concerns were quelled on Thursday.

During No.7-ranked LSU's exhibition match against Xavier (N.O.) Thursday, Johnson finished the game with 30 points on 13-19 shooting while also adding 10 rebounds.

It's worth noting that Xavier (N.O.) is not the same degree of competition that LSU will be playing in most of its games this season, and the game's eye-opening final score of 114-53 makes that clear.

But it's still great for LSU fans to see Johnson start this season with a bang — and they're making that clear by their reactions to the performance on social media.

"She’s looking like the #1 pick," one X user wrote.

Another fan added, "Flau’Jae gonna be a generational talent when it’s all said and done".

"Her game already was, but continues to grow *so* complete

"The pace, the feel, the decisiveness with every rep — she's different," wrote a third.

Johnson and her Tigers squad have one more exhibition game on October 30 before their regular season campaign begins on November 4 against Eastern Kentucky. However, Johnson already appears to be in midseason form.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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