MORAGA, Calif. — It took the LSU women’s basketball team about five minutes to decide the outcome of its game with St. Bonaventure on Friday as the 22nd-ranked Lady Tigers used a 22-2 run over the first
five minutes of the contest en route to their 80-43 victory over the Bonnies here in the first round of the Walnut Creek Holiday Inn Classic at St. Mary’s College.
With the win, the Lady Tigers move into the title game of the Classic against the winner of the St. Mary’s/North Carolina-Greensboro game. The victory was also the second-straight for the Lady Tigers, which improved to 2-1 overall. St. Bonaventure fell to 0-3.
Saturday’s championship game will be played at 9:30 p.m. CT and can be heard in the Baton Rouge area on 107.3 FM and world-wide on LSUsports.net.
Marie Ferdinand led five LSU players in double-figures with 16 points and a career-best 12 assists.
Joining Ferdinand in double-figures for the Lady Tigers were Katrina Hibbert with 12 points, DeTrina White and April Brown with 11 each, and Ke-Ke Tardy with 10.
“I thought we gave a good effort,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said. “We established ourselves early on the defensive end and that was the difference in the game. They couldn’t handle our pressure and our athleticism.
“For the first time in a long time, it didn’t matter what combination we had on the floor. We never had that drop off. We jumped on them early and we never let them back in the game.”
The teams each scored a basket in the opening minute of the game and after that it was all it was all LSU as the Lady Tigers held the Bonnies to just two points for the first six minutes of the game. During that six minute span, LSU reeled off 20 unanswered points, mostly coming as a result of its full-court pressure. White scored six points and Ferdinand and Brown had four points each during that run which basically put the game out of each.
Trailing 22-2 at the 13:40 mark on a basket by LSU’s White, the Bonnies finally halted the Lady Tiger run when Trish Raniewicz hit a 3-pointer. Gunter emptied her bench in the first half as the Lady Tigers led 44-13 at intermission.
In the second half, LSU kept the pressure on as St. Bonaventure was never able to get the deficit under 30 points. LSU’s biggest lead came on a 3-pointer by Hibbert at the 15:05 mark, stretching the Lady Tiger advantage to 39 at 57-18.
Ten of the Lady Tigers that played scored and Saturday’s contest also marked the return of backup point guard Angelia Crockett, who has missed the last three weeks with a stress fracture in her left foot. In 10 minutes of action, Crockett dished out one assists and had a blocked shot.
For the second straight game, LSU had a player with double-figures assists as Ferdinand recorded 12, which marks the third highest total in school history. On Tuesday against UNC-Asheville, Hibbert came within one assist of tying the school mark with 13. Ferdinand and Hibbert combined for 20 assists against the Bonnies.
“Katrina and Marie are just amazing,” Gunter said. “It seems like everytime they step on the floor together, they get better.”
For the game, LSU connected on 35-of-60 shots from the floor for 58.3 percent, while limiting the Bonnies to just 30 percent from the floor on 15-of-49 shooting. LSU also outrebounded St. Bonaventure, 36-25, and the Lady Tigers forced 20 turnovers.
Box Score
St. Bonaventure (0-3)
O’Connell 1-3 2-2 5, Homan 0-5 3-4 3, Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Fazio 2-8 2-2 6, Scott 5-6 0-1 10, Mattingly 0-1 1-3 1 Raniewicz 3-7 2-2 9, McGhee 0-6 0-0 0, Cole 2-5 0-0 4, Clarke 2-5 1-2 5, Saxen 0-0 0-0 0, Herzer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-49 11-16 43.
LSU (2-1)
Ferdinand 7-8 2-2 16, Brown 5-9 1-2 11, Hibbert 5-10 0-0 12, Porter 2-2 1-2 5, White 5-10 1-2 11, Tardy 4-7 2-2 10, Crockett 0-3 0-0 0, Weiner 1-2 0-0 2, Lymon 1-2 0-0 2, Hawkins 2-3 1-2 5, Johns 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 35-60 8-13 80.
Halftime – LSU 44, St.Bonaventure 13. 3-point goals – St. Bonaventure 2-9 (O’Connell 1-3, McGhee 1-2, Cole 0-2, Homan 0-1), LSU 2-6 (Hibbert 2-5, Brown 0-1), Rebounds – St. Bonaventure (25 (Clarke 7), LSU 36 (White 9), Assists – St. Bonaventure 7 (Fazio, Mattingly 3), LSU 25 (Ferdinand 12), Total Fouls – St. Bonaventure 13, LSU 15. Fouled out – None. Technicals – Hibbert (LSU), LSU Bench. Att – 225.