MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Vanderbilt made eight of its first 10 three pointers to open up a seven-point halftime lead and hold off the LSU women’s basketball team throughout the game, winning 70-58 and eliminating the Lady Tigers from the 2001 Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday evening in The Pyramid.
LSU (19-10), the No. 5 seed in the tournament, now awaits a bid into NCAA Tournament and hopes to play host to a sub-regional in Baton Rouge. Bid will be announced on Selection Sunday, March 11.
No. 4 seed Vanderbilt improved to 20-8 overall and advance to the semifinal game at 5 p.m. CST on Saturday against No. 1-seeded Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Alabama on Friday afternoon to advance. Also, No. 7-seeded Arkansas upset No. 2-seeded Florida to advance to face the winner of No. 11 seed Ole Miss and No. 3-seeded Georgia.
The Lady Tigers shot well in the contest (25 of 48, 52.1 percent) but couldn’t keep Vanderbilt’s much taller lineup off the offensive boards. Vanderbilt had 19 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds which sealed the Lady Tigers’ doom. The Commodores shot 54 percent from the field (27 of 50), including 10 of 17 from beyond the arc (59 percent).
LSU had a school record-low 16 rebounds, which was also an SEC Tournament record low.
Marie Ferdinand led the Lady Tigers with 22 points, while Ke-Ke Tardy scored 11. Roneeka Hodges scored eight points and DeTrina White added seven.
Vanderbilt’s Zuzana Klimesova scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, while Chantelle Anderson and Jullian Danker scored 18 points apiece.
With Anderson on the bench with two personal fouls, three-point shooting by the Commodores was the story of the game’s first 11 minutes, as Vanderbilt made eight of its first 10 against the packed-down LSU zone defense.
Danker made five of her six trey’s in the first five minutes and led her team with 15 first-half points. A second-chance three pointer by Danker gave Vanderbilt its largest first-half lead, 17-9, with just more than 15 minutes remaining.
The Lady Tigers held their own from the field, making 10 of their first 13 shots. A layup by White with 9:01 remaining in the half cut Vanderbilt’s lead to three, 25-22.
LSU cut the lead to two, 35-33, when Brown scored on a fastbreak layup off a steal with less than two minutes to play in the half. However, Vanderbilt scored the half’s final five points including a three-point play by Anderson with 1:33 on the clock.
After a Ferdinand layup cut the lead to 48-45 with 15:20 remaining in the game, the Commodores responded with a 8-0 run over the next four minutes to take its largest lead, 56-45.
The Lady Tigers had a chance to capitalize on Anderson’s fourth foul with 9:56 to play, however, Ferdinand missed consecutive free throws which would have given the Lady Tigers the momentum and cut the lead to seven.
LSU would get no closer than nine, 67-58, with 1:44 remaining in the game.
The Lady Tigers await an NCAA regional bid, which will be announced on Sunday, March 11.