BATON ROUGE — The fifth-ranked LSU women’s basketball team overcame a 33.9 percent shooting effort (21 of 62) by holding No. 18 Georgia to just 39 percent from the field and making 26 of 30 from the free throw line to win 68-64 on Sunday afternoon in the Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers improved to 18-1 overall and 6-1 in Southeastern Conference play, while Georgia suffered its first league loss and fell to 14-5 overall, 5-1 in the SEC.
Freshman Seimone Augustus scored 24 points, including 8-of-8 at the free throw line, and grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds to lead LSU to victory. After missing 9-of-12 shots in the first half, the Baton Rouge native made 6-of-7 field goals and scored 12 of LSU’s first 14 points in the second half. Augustus has not missed at the line in SEC play this season, a perfect 26-of-26.
Forward Aiysha Smith added 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting with 7-of-8 free throw attempts, while center Ke-Ke Tardy added 7-of-8 at the cherity stripe and nine points for the game.
The Lady Tigers scored 23 points off 18 Georgia turnovers. LSU committed only 12 turnovers, including seven by Augustus.
Georgia, which led by as many has nine in the first 4:43, cooled to 23-of-59 shooting in the contest for 39.0 percent. The Lady Bulldogs were led by four players in double figures, however they had two starters foul out and three other players with four personal fouls.
Freshman guard Alexis Kenderick made 5-of-17 shots and added four free throws to lead Georgia with 17 points. Freshman Marquita Driskell added 13 points and seven rebouds, while Christi Thomas and Kara Braxton each scored 10.
In the first half, LSU overcame a nine-point deficit with a 10-0 run to take a 14-13 lead with 11:26 to play, holding Georgia scoreless for 4:38. There were nine lead changes in the half and three ties before LSU took a 31-28 halftime advantage despite shooting only 33 percent from the floor.
LSU led by as many has 10, 50-40, after a 9-0 run that featured three baskets by Augustus. However, the Lady Tigers went scoreless for the next 4:06, allowing Georgia to claw back within three, 50-47, with 10:18 to play.
The Lady Tigers made 12-of-14 free throws in the final 8:43 and led by as little as two, 63-61, with under a minute to play after four straight free throws by Kendrick and Braxton.
LSU returns to action on Thursday at 6 p.m. CST when it travels to face South Carolina.