FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For the first time in school history the LSU Lady Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the nation, took claim of at least a share of the Southeastern Conference regular season title after a 90-64 victory over Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena on Thursday night.
The victory also secured LSU (26-1, 13-0 SEC) the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
“I am proud of this team,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “When it got down to it, the kids did a good job executing offensively. We crashed the boards and were able to get out in transition. We definitely need to clean up some of the turnovers but I’m pleased with their effort on the boards.”
The Lady Tigers led 37-31 at the break and opened the second half with a 24-2 run, holding Arkansas (15-11, 3-10 SEC) without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the half to take a 61-33 lead.
Arkansas would use a 15-2 run of their own to cut the lead back to 70-56, but could not get any closer.
Temeka Johnson led LSU with a career-high 28 points and added six assists, while Seimone Augustus had 18 points, Scholanda Hoston had 16 and Sylvia Fowles chipped in 11.
The Lady Tigers’ defense once again held true to form, holding Arkansas to just 27.9 percent shooting from the floor and forced 16 turnovers.
LSU, who hit a season-high 23 of 25 free throws, shot 54.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded Arkansas by 21, 47-26, led by Florence Williams’ career best 11 boards.
Danielle Allen led Arkansas with 13 points, while three others added 12 points.
LSU will play its final home game of the season on Sunday against Florida at 2 p.m. CST in the Maravich Center. The Lady Tigers will be looking to go perfect in SEC play and earn an outright regular season title.
GAME NOTES
- LSU claims at least a share of the Southeastern Conference for the first time in the program’s history.
- Seimone Augustus recorded double figure points for the 53rd straight game.
- Temeka Johnson moved up to 11th place on the NCAA career assist list.
- Temeka Johnson poured in a career-high 28 points.
- Florence Williams pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds.