The second-ranked LSU women’s basketball team turned the ball over 23 times and shot only 45 percent from the field, as No. 9 Arkansas held off the Lady Tigers down the stretch to win 82-72 on Sunday afternoon in Bud Walton Arena.
LSU (15-1, 3-1 SEC) lost for the first time in the regular season since Feb. 24, 2002. Arkansas improved to 16-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
Doneeka Hodges led all scorers in the game with 26 points, 18 of which came in the second half. Aiysha Smith added 13 points, while Seimone Augustus hit for 12 and Temeka Johnson added 10.
Shameka Christon led Arkansas with 25 points, including 18 in the first half, while India Lewis added 19 points on four three-pointers.
LSU fought hard in the second half but never got closer than five points after scoring the first four points in the second half. The Lady Razorbacks had as much as a 17-point lead.
Arkansas outrebounded LSU 34-32 and shot 49.1 percent from the floor. LSU hit 45.2 percent from the floor, but committed a season-high 23 turnovers which led to 27 Arkansas points.
The Lady Tigers fell behind by five early on, however, they battled back to tie the game at 18-18 on a layup by Johnson with just more than 10 minutes to play in the half. Doneeka Hodges later gave the Lady Tigers a 21-20 lead with her second three-pointer of the game.
After the LadyBacks missed a wide open layup against LSU’s defensive trap around the key, Smith hit a three-pointer to push the lead to four, 24-20, at the 8:20 mark.
Arkansas took advantage of seven missed shots and nine turnovers to go on a 14-2 run and take a 34-26 lead. After Arkansas went to a zone defense, the Lady Tigers went scoreless for seven straight minutes until White scored a second-chance layup with 1:08 to play.
LSU trailed 39-30 at the half, as Christon led the Lady’Backs with 17 points.
The Lady Tigers scored the first four points of the second half before Arkansas answered with 12 of their own to up their lead to 17, 51-34, with 13:51 to play.
Doneeka Hodges scored eight straight to cut the lead to 11, 53-42, less than a minute later. After a pair of free throws by Temeka Johnson allowed LSU to trim the lead under double figures, Hodges answered a Lady’Backs free throw with one of her own to keep at nine.
However, Arkansas scored four straight to move ahead by 13 once again. Arkansas led by as many as 16, 67-51, at the 7:30 mark.
LSU got within eight, 72-64, coming out of the media timeout with 3:15 to play, but were unable to get any closer until Doneeka Hodges’ three-point play with only 27.1 seconds to play, 79-72.