SPOKANE, Wash. -- LSU guard Flau'Jae Johnson is ready to go for Sunday's Elite Eight matchup against UCLA after missing the final five-plus minutes of Friday's win over NC State while experiencing double vision.
Johnson went down in a collision with Wolfpack guard Zoe Brooks while pursuing a loose ball in the fourth quarter of Friday's Sweet 16 game, getting called for a foul on the play.
"I feel good," Johnson said Saturday. "I think her elbow just hit me in my eye, and I couldn't really focus my eyes. I was seeing double. So I was trying to go back in the game, and then I was like, 'I can't see,' so I just sat down. But I'm good, though."
With Johnson cheering on the sidelines, and sharing with teammates what she saw from the bench during huddles, the Tigers rallied to beat NC State 80-73 and advance to their third consecutive Elite Eight.
Before the injury, it was a tough shooting night for Johnson, whose three points were her fewest since November 2023. Per ESPN Research, Johnson's 0-for-5 shooting before halftime was her worst in any half this season. She finished 1-for-8 from the field.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey has no doubt that Johnson will move past Friday's game.
"She will bounce back just like All-Americans do," Mulkey said. "She's an All-American, and she struggled, and we won without her, basically, and now she wants to try to do more on the floor. But I don't anticipate anything.
"Flau'Jae's Flau'Jae. She's going to bounce back and beat herself up probably all night. But today's a new day, and she's got that smile on her face and that joyful spirit that makes her Flau'Jae."
In fact, by the time Johnson was asked during media availability how she's planning to bounce back, she had already put the performance out of her mind.
"For real? I forgot about it," Johnson said, laughing. "That's the mentality you've got to have.
"Last night, I prayed about it. Then, I was like, 'I've got to flush it.' In the tournament, you don't have time to dwell on your last game."
On the other side, Bruins coach Cori Close was concerned about facing Johnson coming off a low-scoring outing.
"It's sort of scary because you don't really see her have two off nights in a row, right?" Close said, emphasizing the need for UCLA to be focused on getting the ball out of Johnson's hands in the open court.
Per Synergy Sports tracking, 34.5% of Johnson's plays this season (either a shot, turnover or trip to the free throw line) have come in transition, and her 226 total transition points rank sixth among Division I players.