Flau’jae Johnson scored a game-high 18 points on Thursday in the LSU women’s basketball team’s 93-77 win over Duke – a game she’s been looking forward to since July.

That’s because Johnson had something to prove to sixth-year Blue Devils’ coach Kara Lawson. Over the summer, the senior guard was one of 12 college basketball stars who played on the USA Basketball team that Lawson coached to gold at the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup in Chile.

Except Johnson couldn’t crack Lawson’s rotation in the games that mattered most, losing “a lot of confidence” as a result, coach Kim Mulkey said Thursday.

“I was happy for Flau’jae,” Mulkey said. “She didn't have a good experience with USA Basketball with (Lawson) this summer, and so she's had this date circled.

“You get nervous, right? You get nervous b

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