Aneesah Morrow returns to Chicago to face Illinois-Chicago
CHICAGO – Aneesah Morrow is back home in Chicago as No. 5 LSU (13-0) is set for its first road game of the season at Illinois-Chicago (2-5) on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT in Credit Union 1 Arena.
Morrow is coming off a huge performance in which she was named the MVP of the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase against Seton Hall with a season-high 24 points, 19 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and a block. It was her nation-leading 11th double-double. She also leads the nation with 14.1 rebounds per game and has grabbed 15+ boards in four straight games.
The Chicago native who played her first two season at DePaul, continues to climb all-time rankings. Her 85 career double-doubles rank No. 6 in NCAA DI history. She is eight double-doubles shy of holding the No. 2 spot; Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) owns the record with 128. Morrow has also climbed into the top-25 in career rebounds in NCAA DI, currently with 1,412 career rebounds. She is putting together one of the best careers in college women’s basketball history.
“I want to be one percent better than I was the day before,” Morrow said. “I work towards that just to accomplish my goals. I want to set a standard not only for myself, but my teammates.”
Morrow starred in high school at Simeon, a school known for producing top men's players such as Derrick Rose and Jabari Parker. She is the most notable women's basketball player out of Simeon. She led Simeon to its first girls’ basketball state championship with a 25-2 record while averaging 28.4 points, 14.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists. Coming out of high school and being recruited amidst Covid, Morrow decided to stay in Chicago and play at DePaul. She was named National Freshman of the Year and stayed there through her sophomore season before transferring to LSU.
She has nearly 40 friends and family that will be in Credit 1 Union Arena Thursday night. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can listen to Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
“It’s not easy to always take them back home, but we try,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “There’s something in your heart; I remember when I was a player, I always wanted to go back home and play in front of people that watched me grow up.”
Earlier in December LSU had a homecoming game for Mikaylah Williams in Bossier City, Louisiana. Last season LSU went to Baltimore to play Coppin State for Angel Reese’s homecoming game.
Mikaylah Williams was also a pivotal player in LSU’s win over Seton Hall with 22 points, 6 made threes, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Her six threes are tied for the eighth most in program history in a single game and helped LSU remain undefeated to tie its fifth best start in program history.
Thursday’s game at UIC will be LSU’s first true road game of the season; the Tigers are 4-0 in neutral site games.