HARTFORD, Conn. — Despite a valiant second-half comeback effort, LSU’s third-ranked women’s basketball team fell to No. 5 Connecticut, 51-48, on Monday night in the Hartford Civic Center.
LSU (14-1) trailed by 16 points late in the first half and 30-21 at the break, but fought back to tie the score at 48-48 on a Sylvia Fowles lay-up with 25 seconds to play, but could never retake the lead.
UConn (16-2) then retook the lead on a Charde Houston free throw and Seimone Augustus‘ off balance baseline jumper with six seconds left did not fall. A pair of Barbara Turner free throws with 0.2 second left iced the game.
The Lady Tigers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before UConn answered with a 7-0 run of their own. Following three minutes of lead changes, Fowles committed her second foul of the first half, sending her to the bench, when Houston connected on a lay-up and the free throw to give the Huskies a 14-10 lead.
UConn then built a 16-point lead with 2:06 left to play, outscoring LSU 16-4 without Fowles on the floor. LSU did manage to cut the lead down, using a 7-0 run to end the half.
“I give credit to UConn tonight,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “I just wish that our team would have been more methodical and more mentally disciplined in our approached on the offensive end of the floor to create more opportunities for ourselves.”
UConn’s Houston led all scorers in the ! game with 25 points, including 15 in the first half. She added 14 rebounds to help UConn out rebounded LSU 38-34.
Augustus led the Lady Tigers with 15 points, while Fowles added 12 points and 15 rebounds. Scholanda Hoston added 11 points, including two lay-ups late in the game to aid the comeback effort.
LSU held UConn to just 33.9 percent shooting from the floor, including 28.0 percent in the second half, but the Lady Tigers shot only 38.5 percent for the game themselves.
The Lady Tigers return to Southeastern Conference action on Thursday when they host Alabama at 7 p.m. CST in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU vs Connecticut
01/16/06 7 p.m. at Hartford, Conn. (Hartford Civic Center)
At Hartford, Conn. (Hartford Civic Center)
CONNECTICUT 51, LSU 48
LSU (14-1)
AUGUSTUS, Seimone 6-19 1-2 15; FOWLES, Sylvia 5-8 2-5 12; HOSTON, Scholanda 4-9 2-2 11; WHITE, Erica 2-3 0-0 4; WILLIAMS, Florence 1-4 0-0 2; CHANEY, Quianna 1-4 0-0 2; THOMAS, Ashley 1-3 0-0 2; LeBLANC, RaShonta 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 5-9 48.
CONNECTICUT (16-2)
HOUSTON, Charde 10-23 2-3 22; THOMAS, Mel 3-8 0-0 9; TURNER, Barbara 3-9 2-2 8; MONTGOMERY, Renee 2-7 1-2 6; STROTHER, Ann 1-10 1-2 4; HUNTER, Brittany 1-2 0-0 2; CROCKETT, Willnett 0-0 0-0 0; WOLFF, Nicole 0-0 0-0 0; SWANIER, Ketia 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 6-9 51.
LSU……………………… 21 27 – 48
Connecticut………………. 30 21 – 51
3-point goals-LSU 3-9 (AUGUSTUS, Seimone 2-3; HOSTON, Scholanda 1-4; CHANEY,
Quianna 0-2), Connecticut 5-20 (THOMAS, Mel 3-5; STROTHER, Ann 1-7; MONTGOMERY, Renee 1-3; TURNER, Barbara 0-3; HOUSTON, Charde 0-2). Fouled out–LSU-None, Connecticut-None. Rebounds-LSU 34 (FOWLES, Sylvia 15), Connecticut 38 (HOUSTON, Charde 14). Assists-LSU 10 (LeBLANC, RaShonta 2; HOSTON, Scholanda 2; WHITE, Erica 2; AUGUSTUS, Seimone 2), Connecticut 9 (STROTHER, Ann 5). Total fouls-LSU 14, Connecticut 12. A-15105
GAME NOTES
– Seimone Augustus reached double figures in points for the 77th straight game! with her 15 tonight.
– Sylvia Fowles has double figures in rebounds for the 23rd time in her career and the 10th time this season.
– Fowles collected her ninth double double of the season and 21st of her career with 12 points and 15 rebounds.