AUBURN, Ala. — LSU’s second-ranked Lady Tigers basketball team played a hard fought battle, but edged past Auburn 54-45 on Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
Freshman Seimone Augustus led the way for LSU (13-0, 1-0 SEC) with 19 points, including 15 in the second half. She also put LSU up for good on a jumper with seven minutes to play in the game.
Auburn (12-2, 0-1 SEC) led by as much as six early in the second half and led by four late in the first half before LSU chipped away and tied the score at 24-24 at halftime. The Lady Tigers led by 10 early in the game, but went on an eight minute dry spell when Auburn chipped away and took the lead in with five minutes left in the first half.
“I have never been so happy to have 54 points,” LSU head coach Sue Gunter said. “We were just flat early in the game and struggled on the offensive end of the floor. But we still found a way to win and I have to give our team a lot of credit for that.”
LSU’s defense held Auburn to just 36 percent shooting from the floor and held the Tigers to just three points in the final nine minutes, ending the game on a 16-3 run.
Aiysha Smith added 12 points and 12 rebounds for LSU, while DeTrina White had eight points and 12 boards. LSU outrebounded Auburn 47-34 and limited the Tigers to just nine offensive boards.
Le’Coe Willingham led Auburn with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
LSU returns home to host Ole Miss on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.