SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Flau’jae Johnson tried to stay in front of Ashlon Jackson on the perimeter, but Duke’s star danced away, stepped back behind the arc and drained a 3-pointer that couldn’t have missed touching even a millimeter of the rim, circling and circling before dropping gently through the net.

As the Blue Devils scrambled in celebration of their thrilling 87-85buzzer-beating win over LSU in the regional semifinal of the NCAA Tournament at the Golden One Center, Johnson, the Tigers’ heart-and-soul senior guard, could only walk toward the LSU bench with hands on her forehead in disbelief.

The last moment of her remarkable college career was a painful one.

“LSU has meant everything to me, it’s done everything for me,” Johnson said, sitting by her locker after the game, speaking quietly, her head still in her hands. “But right now I kind of feel like I let everybody down and I’ve got to get my emotions in check. But I am thankful for my time at LSU.”

Johnson was the first McDonald’s All-American recruited by Kim Mulkey when she took over the Tigers program. She won a national title as a freshman in 2023 and became a symbol of the modern collegiate player with NIL money and a name nearing household status – not to mention a successful rap career. Now she’s moving on from LSU and college basketball. But not from the spotlight.

Johnson could well be a top five pick in the WNBA Draft on April 13, and no one will be better positioned to build their brand as the women’s professional league enters a new era of prosperity thanks to a new collective bargaining agreement.

Johnson, who had passed 2,000 career points in the SEC Tournament, has been dominant in LSU’s first two wins, scoring a combined 44 points in wins over Jacksonville and Texas Tech.

She was less than that against Duke, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds and four personal fouls. In the first half, she struggled mightily, going 1 for 7 with two rebounds in 14 minutes before righting her way in the final 20 minutes. LSU got down by 11 points with 7:35 to go, but went on a 10-0 run and grabbed an 85-84 lead with nine seconds to go.

“We were going to fight,” Johnson said of the Tigers’ late-game rally. “We have been in that position before and we folded. And weren’t going to do that anymore. And that’s what we did, we fought.”

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness