BATON ROUGE — LSU’s No. 2/1-ranked Lady Tigers held off a second half surge from Southeastern Conference foe Auburn to pull out a 57-52 victory on Sunday afternoon in front of 14,256 fans in the Maravich Center.
“I want to start out by thanking the 14,256 fans that showed up and helped us along to victory,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “The excitement and energy they had in the first half us do things as a team.”
LSU (19-1, 6-0 SEC) and Auburn (10-9, 1-5 SEC) went back and forth for most of the first half before the Lady Tigers ended the half with a 13-1 run to lead 27-17 at the break. LSU then took an 11-point lead, the largest of the game with 16:12 left to play before Auburn used an 11-4 run to cut the lead to six.
The Lady Tigers then rebuilt a double figure lead, 47-37, before Auburn chipped away and got as close as three down the stretch. LSU connected on its final four free throws in the final seconds of the game to seal the win.
Seimone Augustus led the way with a game-high 24 points, while Sylvia Fowles had 13 points and 14 rebounds for her eighth double double of the season. Temeka Johnson added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists in the victory.
Natasha Brackett led Auburn with 23 points, while Marita Payne pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked eight shots in a losing effort.
“I understand Auburn did a great job today,” Chatman added. “To me, we lacked energy in our execution and I say that because we had our beat week of practice and it did not translate into the type of play, but I do not underestimate the role Auburn played in that.”
LSU, which shot a season low 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, also held Auburn to 33.3 percent shooting. The Lady Tigers did outrebounded Auburn 44-39, including 17 offensive boards.
The Lady Tigers hit the road for the next two games, visiting Ole Miss on Thursday and Mississippi State on Sunday.
GAME NOTES
- The 14,256 paid attendance is the second largest home crowd in Lady Tigers’ basketball history.
- Seimone Augustus scored in double figures for the 46th straight time. She also reached the 20-point plateau for the 37th time in her career and 10th time this season.
- Temeka Johnson moved to within 11 assists of tying the Southeastern Conference career assist record and 12 of breaking the mark.
- Temeka Johnson’s four steals in the game gives the senior 202 in her career, becoming the sixth player in school history to collected at least 200 steals.
- Sylvia Fowles recorded her eighth double double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds.