TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — LSU’s drought at Alabama continued on Thursday as the Crimson Tide battled back from an eight-point deficit in the final nine minutes of the contest to post a 72-68 upset win over the seventh-ranked Lady Tigers here at Coleman Coliseum.
The loss to the Crimson Tide snapped LSU’s six-game Southeastern Conference winning streak and it also marked the Lady Tigers’ first league loss on the road in six tries. LSU now stands at 18-4 overall and 7-2 in league play.
Alabama, which had its two-game losing streak snapped, improved to 14-8 overall and 4-5 in league play. The win was Alabama’s eighth straight over LSU as the Lady Tigers have not won in Tuscaloosa since an 83-82 victory in 1986.
Marie Ferdinand led LSU with 21 points, while Katrina Hibbert added 18 and DeTrina White had 15 points and 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season. Shondra Johnson paced the Crimson Tide with 19 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
“The bottom line is they hit some big shots when they had to and they wanted the game more than we did,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said. “The other thing that hurt us is that we couldn’t defend them. We couldn’t defend them out of our man (to-man) defense or our zone defense.
“Ultimately what lost the game for us was their second and third chances. It seemed like time and time again, we gave them second and third chances and good teams are going to make you pay for it.”
After leading 35-28 at halftime, the Lady Tigers extended the margin to nine, 37-28, on a basket by Ferdinand on LSU’s first possession of the second half. The Lady Tiger lead stayed at or above four points for the next eight minutes until a 3-pointer by Taquilla Allen pulled the Crimson Tide to within 49-46 at the 11:55 mark. Alabama’s Ferris Peters followed with another three on the Crimson Tide’s next possession to tie the score at 49-49. Alabama then took its first lead since early in the first half, 51-49, on a layup by Shun Hunter at the 10:57 mark.
Hibbert hit a 10-foot jumper on the Lady Tigers’ next possession to ignite a 10-0 run for LSU. Hibbert’s basket tied the game at 51-51 and by the time Alabama scored again, the Lady Tigers had extended the lead to 59-51 with 8:42 to play.
“I don’t think you can ever lead by enough, especially on the road in this league,” Hibbert said.
LSU’s eight-point lead proved to be not enough as Alabama slowly chipped away at the Lady Tiger advantage. A 3-pointer by Johnson, her first of the year, pulled Alabama to within 64-61 at the 5:23 mark and then Allen hit a 28-foot 3-pointer three minutes later to tie the game at 66-66. LSU regained the lead for the last time, 68-66, on a basket by White on it next possession.
Alabama’s LaNisha Cartwell answered with a basket to tie the game at 68-68 with 2:00 to go and then a pair of free throws by Johnson put the Tide up for good at 70-68 with 1:06 left. LSU’s Angelia Crockett missed a shot on the Lady Tigers next possession and then after an Alabama miss on its end, Hilbert’s 3-point attempt with about 15 seconds rattled out. Johnson iced the win with a pair of free throws with four seconds left.
“When they made that next run we couldn’t fight them off again,” Gunter said. “You could just see the energy shift from us to them. They hit a couple of 3’s that really broke our back.
“Still, when we were down two, we took a shot that we probably shouldn’t have. But that’s not what lost this game for us. We had some mistakes at the end that we haven’t been making. It’s not what we did in the last minute and a half, it’s what we didn’t do earlier that cost us this game.”
In the first half, the Lady Tigers used a 12-0 run over a six-minute span to take its biggest lead of the game, 26-16, on a jumper by Brown. But Alabama hung around as the Lady Tigers lead slipped to just 35-28 at halftime.
For the game, LSU shot 50.9 percent and turned the ball over only 10 times. Alabama connected on just 44.6 percent from the field, but just 10 turnovers and 14 offensive rebounds helped the Crimson Tide cause. Alabama outscored LSU, 44-33, in the second half.