BOULDER, Colo. — Battling back from a 10-point halftime deficit, the No. 6-seeded Lady Tiger basketball team could not hold off No. 3-seeded Colorado in the end, falling, 69-58, in the Coors Entertainment Center in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Tigers end their season with an overall record of 18-12, while Colorado (23-9) advances to the Sweet 16 in Boise, Idaho, next weekend.
“I first want to congratulate Colorado for a great game,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “They came out with a great game plan and executed it very well.
“I could not be any more proud of my team as I am even though we lost. We just didn’t do the things that we do well tonight. That is attributed to two things. Colorado came out and defended us well and secondly we shot ourselves in the foot at times.”
Sophomore Doneeka Hodges led the Lady Tigers with 23 points, her second consecutive 20-point plus scoring effort. She also had 11 rebounds for her second collegiate double-double. Junior Aiysha Smith added 13 points for LSU.
Sophomore Temeka Johnson recorded a career-high 11 rebounds with eight points and seven assists.
Colorado was led by Mandy Nightingale with 20 points, followed by Tera Bjorklund with 17 and Jenny Roulier with 13.
The gamed opened with strong defense by both teams, preventing either team from taking many good shots at the goal. After combining to go 0-for-13 to open the game, Smith finally scored the game’s first points with 16:52 remaining.
Eisha Bohman tied the game for Colorado with a five-foot jumper in the lane, but by the first media timeout at the 15:44-mark, the score was only 2-2.
The Buffaloes then got the three-pointers to fall. Nightingale hit a pair of threes and Roulier added a three, outscoring LSU 9-2 and giving Colorado the 11-4 lead.
The Lady Tigers countered with a three by Doneeka Hodges before a jumper in the lane by Ke-Ke Tardy cut the lead to 11-9 at the second media timeout with 11:35 remaining. Smith then quickly tied the game with a pair of free throws.
After a pair of free throws by Nightingale, Smith hit the old fashioned three-point play and Doneeka Hodges nailed a three-pointer in transition to give LSU the 17-13 lead.
Colorado tied the game with a layup by Bjorklund and a 15-footer by Linda Lappe. The scored went back and forth from there, with LSU taking a two-point lead, only to have Colorado tie the game again. The scored was tied at 21 apiece with 7:23 remaining at the third media timeout.
Colorado took its first lead since the 10:51-mark with a layup by Bjorklund with 4:37 remaining, but LSU immediately tied the game at 23 with a layup by Tardy and regained the lead with a 10-foot jumper by Doneeka Hodges in transition.
An 11-0 run by Colorado gave the Buffaloes their largest lead of the game, 34-25 with 57 seconds remaining. LSU broke the run with a fall away jumper by Johnson with 26 seconds remaining, but a three .by Nightingale closed out the half with Colorado leading 37-27.
LSU opened the half by cutting the Colorado lead to five points on a pair of free throws and a three-pointer by Doneeka Hodges.
With Colorado leading, 39-32, LSU went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 39 on a three-pointer by Roneeka Hodges from the top of the key.
The Buffaloes countered with a 13-4 run to take a nine-point lead, 52-43, layup by Bjorklund with 9:37 remaining in the game.
Colorado then took its largest lead of the game, 61-50, on a three-pointer by Nightingale from the right baseline with 4:35 remaining.
After Doneeka Hodges hit a free throw to cut the lead to 10 points, Colorado built a 12- point advantage on a pair of free throws by Bjorklund. Roneeka Hodges cut the lead to nine-points again with a three-pointer from the right wing with 3:10 remaining.
Colorado scored their last eight points of the game of free throws and outscored LSU 8-4 over the final three minutes of the game.