BOULDER, Colo. — Seimone Augustus had 23 points and Sylvia Fowles added a career-high 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead LSU’s second-ranked Lady Tigers basketball team to a hard fought 64-51 victory over No. 22 Maryland in the first round of the Coors Classic in the University of Colorado’s Coors Event Center on Friday night.
LSU (6-0) had to come from behind for the victory after trailing 39-37 midway through the second half to the Terrapins (2-1). The Lady Tigers, who led 29-20 at the break, saw Maryland use a 15-4 run to open the second half to take the lead.
The Lady Tigers then used a 10-0 run to pull away and go up 49-39 before Maryland chipped back to cut the lead to three before LSU pulled away at the end, holding UM scoreless over the final four minutes of the game.
“Over the last 10 minutes of the game we did not talk strategy. It was all about heart, defensive rebounds and pushing the basketball.” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “Seimone (Augustus), Temeka (Johnson) and Scholanda (Hoston) had a little bit more energy down the stretch.”
Fowles, who had just three points and seven boards in the first half, connected on five of six shots from both the floor and free throw line to finish with her career-high 18 points. Augustus had 13 of her game-high 23 in the second half, including the final six points of the game.
Freshman Laura Harper led Maryland with 17 points and 16 rebounds, while Shay Doron added 14 points in a losing effort.
LSU will face either host Colorado or Penn in the championship game of the Coors Classic on Saturday at either 6 or 8 p.m. CST. If Colorado wins on Friday night the game will be at 6 p.m. CST.