BATON ROUGE — Marie Ferdinand scored 20 points and Katrina Hibbert added 14 points and 10 assists as 15th-ranked LSU overcame a slow start to post a 67-56 win over Michigan here Saturday at the Maravich Assembly Center.
The win marked LSU’s six straight win as the Lady Tigers improved to 6-1 overall. The win also extended LSU’s home-court winning streak to 12 straight overall and 39 straight against non-conference teams. Michigan lost for the second straight game and dropped to 7-2 overall.
Joining Ferdinand and Hibbert in double-figures for the Lady Tigers were April Brown with 14 points and DeTrina White with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Alayne Ingram paced the Wolverines with 19 points, while Stacey Thomas and Raina Goodlow added 14 each.
“We struggled in the first half,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said. “Michigan did an outstanding job of destroying our tempo. We couldn’t read what they were doing. We didn’t know if they were in a zone or in a man-to-man and that just broke us down as far as our tempo is concerned.
“In the second half we came out and just worked really hard to finally get the job done. Our defense in the second half won the game for us. We didn’t rebound well, we didn’t shoot free throws very well. This is just one of those games that I’m very glad that we won. It’s a quality win for us.”
Trailing 44-43 early in the second half, LSU used its defense to gain control of the contest as the Lady Tigers held Michigan to just two points over a five-minute span. In that stretch, LSU outscored the Wolverines, 13-2, with Hibbert scoring five points, to take a 56-46 lead on a jumper by Ke-Ke Tardy at the 8:20 mark.
After a timeout, Michigan scored four straight points to pull within six, 56-50, on a pair of free throws by Ingram at the 7:10 mark. LSU stretched the margin to 59-50 on a free throw by White with 5:26 to play. The Wolverines made one final run at LSU, getting to within six, 61-55, on a
3-pointer by Ingram at the 2:22 mark. LSU’s Brown responded with an 18-foot jumper on the Lady Tigers’ next possession to put the game out of reach at 63-55 with 1:53 to play. Michigan scored only one point in the final two minutes of the contest.
“Anytime we can hold a team to 56 points, we think we are going to be in pretty good shape to win the game because eventually we are going to score,” Gunter said. “That’s what happened in the second half. We had that spurt in the second half when we did some good things on defense and we got into transition and that’s when this team is at its best.”
In the first half, Michigan led by as many as five points, 15-10, after a 3-pointer by Thomas at the 11:20 mark. LSU regained the lead at 19-17 on a jumper by Hibbert at the 7:02 mark. LSU took its biggest lead of the first half at 25-20 on a jumper by Tardy at the 3:06 mark. Michigan outscored the Lady Tigers 9-4 over the final three minutes, including a 17-foot jumper by Goodlow, to tie the contest at 29-29 at halftime.
For the game, LSU shot 50 percent to Michigan’s 34 percent, however the Wolverines hit 6-of-11 from 3-point range for 54.5 percent. Michigan also outrebounded the Lady Tigers, 37-33. LSU, who leads the Southeastern Conference in assists, had 22 for the contest, including 10 by Hibbert.
Hibbert’s 10 assists marks her third double-digit assist game of the year, a single-season school record. Hibbert also led the Lady Tigers with six steals.
LSU returns to action on Wednesday as they play host to SMU at 7 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center.