BATON ROUGE — LSU’s second-ranked Lady Tigers basketball team defeated Arizona State, 65-54, on Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to win the 2004 Women’s Sports Foundation Classic.
Virginia defeated Maine 72-62 earlier in the evening in the consolation game of the tournament.
Tournament MVP Seimone Augustus led the way for LSU (2-0) with 25 points, including 16 in the first half, and added four rebounds, four steals and three assists to the winning effort. Temeka Johnson added 11 points and seven assists in the win, while All-Tournament team selection Sylvia Fowles contributed six points, a team-high seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
Arizona State (1-1) scored the opening basket for their only lead of the game. LSU used a 13-2 run to pull away and eventually led 35-23 at the break.
The Lady Tigers took as much as an 18-point lead in the second half before the Sun Devils chipped away to cut it to 11 at the game’s end.
“I have a lot of respect for Arizona State and coach Charli Turner Thorne,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “They do some very good things defensively and offensively and took us out of some things.”
Kirsten Kovensdy, an All-Tournament selection, led Arizona State with 12 points, while Emily Westerberg added 11 points and eight rebounds.
LSU shot 52.7 percent from the floor and held ASU to 37.5 percent, but the Sun Devils outrebounded the Lady Tigers 31-28 and connected on 16 of 21 free throws.
LSU will travel to Austin, Texas to battle No. 8 Baylor in Sunday’s State Farm Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic at 12:30 p.m. CST from the University of Texas’ Edwin Center.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Brandi Teamer, Virginia
Monica Peterson, Maine
Kristen Kovesdy, Arizona State
Kylan Loney, Arizona State
Sylvia Fowles, LSU
MVP: Seimone Augustus, LSU