HOUMA, La. — All-American Seimone Augustus led four Lady Tigers in double figures scoring, as LSU (No. 3 AP/No. 2 Coaches) cruised to a 80-35 victory over Southern Miss in front of 2,332 bayou fans in the Houma Civic Center on Sunday.
LSU (4-0) tuned up for a three-game road swing across three time zones by forcing 34 turnovers against the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss head coach Joye Lee-McNelis lost her debut at the helm in Hattiesburg, as the Golden Eagles fell to 0-1.
The Lady Tigers’ 42 points off turnovers alone would have been enough to beat the Golden Eagles in the neutral-site contest less than two hours from Baton Rouge.
Augustus, who played only 18 minutes, scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while adding three assists and five steals. She was joined in double figures by freshman center Sylvia Fowles, who had 13 points and a team-high six rebounds, along with guards Schlolanda Hoston and Quianna Chaney who scored 12 each.
Led by six steals from Hoston, LSU finished with a season-high 27. The Lady Tigers committed only 10 turnovers and 12 fouls.
Southern Miss forward Shannon Stueber led the team in scoring with 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting, but committed a game-high nine turnovers in 35 minutes. Kimberly Rigg led the Golden Eagles with nine rebounds and scored eight points.
With road match-ups against Temple, Maryland and either Colorado or Penn in the next week, LSU first-year head coach Pokey Chatman was content to play each of her starters less than 20 minutes in the blowout.
One facet of the game where LSU continued to struggle was the free throw line, where they made just 13 of 27 freebies for 48.1 percent. Through four games, the Lady Tigers have made only 60 percent of their 65 free throws.
Despite a few shortcomings, LSU dominated Southern Miss on both ends of the court. The Lady Tigers led 17-2 less than 10 minutes into the game and never looked back. When Chatman began to empty her bench late in the first half, the lead was 30-4.
Southern Miss put forth their best effort of the half in the final five minutes, outscoring LSU, 9-7, to trail 37-13 at the break. The Golden Eagles committed 21 turnovers and made only 5-of-17 shots in the first 20 minutes.
The second half held more of the same for both teams, though LSU went to the bench after only three minutes of play. Chatman used all 15 players on her roster and 13 scored.
LSU led by as many as 48 before Southern Miss’ Kalee Silovsky made a three-pointer with four seconds to play to make the final margin 45.
The Lady Tigers leave campus early Monday morning to travel to Philadelphia, where they face Temple at 6 p.m. CST on Tuesday. From there, the team will fly to Denver and take part in the Coors Classic on Nov. 26-27 in Boulder, Colo.