AUBURN, Ala. — Marie Ferdinand knocked down an 18-foot jumper with just over a minute to play to help the seventh-ranked LSU Lady Tigers stave off a furious Auburn rally Sunday afternoon and pull out a 54-52 victory on the plains.
The win, LSU s eighth straight, improved the team to 18-3 on the year. With the win, the Lady Tigers have jumped out to the best start in Southeastern Conference play in school history at 7-1. LSU extended its school-record SEC road winning streak to five games. The win was also the sixth straight in conference for the Lady Tigers, one shy of tying the school record set in the 1982-83 season.
The loss dropped 13th-ranked Auburn to 17-5 overall and 5-4 in league play.
LSU, leading by two, had opportunities to put the game away late but missed a lay up and a crucial free-throw in the final minute to give Auburn one last chance. However, LaRita Spencer was unable to get a shot off before the horn sounded to try to force the game to overtime.
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well but we found a way to win,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. We missed the free throws and we made a couple of plays that weren’t intelligent in the last 40 seconds. This is one of those games that you can go back home thankful that you don’t have to learn a lesson with a loss. As a coach I am very grateful that we won the game.”
LSU, behind a game-high 21 points from Katrina Hibbert, built a commanding 52-39 lead with 6:02 to play over the Lady Tigers of Auburn only to see the lead slip away over the next four minutes.
Trailing by 13, Auburn stormed back with a 13-0 run highlighted by Spencer s three-pointer that closed LSU’s lead to two with 3:16 to play. Less than a minute later, LeCoe Willingham scored to knot the game at 52-52.
“We made a good run at the end, but fell a little short,” said Auburn head coach Joe Ciampi. “This was a very disappointing loss for us against a good team.”
The Lady Tigers built their biggest lead of the game, 44-29, with 14:30 left in the game only to see Auburn respond with an 8-1 run to close the gap to eight. However, Hibbert hit the last of her career-high six three-pointers to halt the Auburn spurt.
“Hibbert had an outstanding shooting game. She took good shots and she made some big baskets when we needed them,” said Gunter of Hibbert’s shooting display.
April Brown, who scored 15 in the game, started the contest as LSU s go-to player as she scored 13 points in the first ten minutes of the game while Hibbert remained scoreless. She scored nine straight at one point to give LSU a quick 15-6 lead at the 15:06 mark in the first half.
“April established herself early in the game by knocking down some big shots and that gave us a comfort zone,” Gunter said.
After an Auburn run cut the LSU lead to 23-20, Hibbert began to take charge. Her three three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor pushed the Lady Tiger lead to its largest of the first half at 12.
She converted on a four-point play with 0:01 remaining the half to give LSU a 36-25 lead at the half.
LSU (18-3, 7-1)
Brown 7-11 0-1 15, Hibbert 7-15 1-1 21, White 4-6 2-4 10, Ferdinand 4-12 0-1 8, Crockett 0-4 0-0 0, Tardy 0-1 0-0 0, Lymon 0-0 0-0 0, Johns 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-49 3-7 54.
Auburn (17-5, 5-4)
Askew 4-13 0-2 8, Willingham 2-4 6-6 10, Sparrow 2-4 0-0 4, Krantz 1-6 0-0 2, Hamilton 2-7 0-0 5, Spencer 2-6 0-0 6, Pugh 0-1 0-2 0, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Bernath 3-5, 0-2 6, Nero 3-5 5-7 11, Totals 19-53 11-19 52.
Halftime – LSU 36, Auburn 25. 3-point goals – LSU 7-14 (Brown 1-1, Hibbert 6-12, Ferdinand 0-1), Auburn 3-16 (Askew 0-6, Krantz 0-3, Hamilton 1-1, Spencer 2-6). Rebounds – LSU 28 (White, Ferdinand 8), Auburn 41 (Bernath 7). Assists – LSU 18 (Ferdinand 6), Auburn (Bernath 4). Total Fouls – LSU 13, Auburn 12. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – None. Att. 1,262.