BATON ROUGE — Seimone Augustus scored 29 points and Sylvia Fowles added 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead the third-ranked LSU women’s basketball team to a 88-57 victory over No. 10 Baylor on Monday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (18-1) jumped out to an early 10-point lead, 20-10, just under seven minutes into the game and never looked back. Baylor (15-4) cut it to eight the next possession, but the Lady Tigers retook a double figure lead, 22-12 after Augustus hit a jumper with 11:25 left in the opening half.
The Lady Tigers led by double figures the rest of the way, including 50-27 at the break and by as many as 33 late in the game.
“The energy and the execution led to so much offensively and defensively,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “I was pleased with how we extended the energy for close to 40 minutes.”
Augustus shot 13-21 from the field, including 1-1 from three-point land to lead all scorers. Fowles, who had 13 of her 17 points and 10 of her 14 rebounds at the break, added three blocked shots in the victory.
Scholanda Hoston added 14 points of 5-6 shooting and 3-4 from three-point range. Florence Williams had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench and Erica White dished out 11 assists.
“It didn’t matter how they played us defensively,” Chatman said. “They played some man, they played some zone, they played some junk and we did a good job of executing to the tune of shooting the ball at 50 percent for the game.”
LSU shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the game, including 51.4 percent in the first half. The Lady Tigers also grabbed 50 rebounds to Baylor’s 35.
Baylor, the defending national champions, was held to 35.3 percent from the floor.
The victory for LSU marked the 27th straight in the Maravich Center and the 34th straight over a non-conference opponent.
LSU returns to Southeastern Conference action on Thursday when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to face the Lady Razorbacks at 7 p.m. CST in Bud Walton Arena.
Baylor vs LSU
01/30/06 6 p.m. at Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)
At Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)
LSU 88, BAYLOR 57
BAYLOR (15-4)
YOUNG, Sophia 8-16 1-1 17; TISDALE, Angela 5-11 2-2 13; ALLISON, Rachel 3-8 1-2 7; MORROW, Jessica 2-4 0-0 5; WYATT, Latoya 1-3 3-4 5; WABARA, Abiola 2-10 0-0 4; PLAYER, Jhasmin 2-7 0-0 4; SCOTT, Chameka 1-7 0-0 2; ABBOTT, Tricia 0-1 0-0 0; DAVIS, Jordan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-68 7-9 57.
LSU (18-1, 6-0 SEC)
AUGUSTUS, Seimone 13-21 2-2 29; FOWLES, Sylvia 5-14 7-12 17; HOSTON, Scholanda 5-6 1-1 14; WILLIAMS, Florence 5-8 1-2 11; CHANEY, Quianna 1-4 5-5 7; THOMAS, Ashley 2-6 0-0 4; MITCHELL, Khalilah 1-2 0-0 2; WHITE, Erica 1-3 0-0 2; MORRIS, Kristen 1-3 0-2 2; WHITFIELD, Marian 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-68 16-24 88.
Baylor…………………… 27 30 – 57
LSU……………………… 50 38 – 88
3-point goals-Baylor 2-11 (MORROW, Jessica 1-2; TISDALE, Angela 1-5; WYATT, Latoya 0-1; PLAYER, Jhasmin 0-1; SCOTT, Chameka 0-1; DAVIS, Jordan 0-1), LSU 4-6 (HOSTON, Scholanda 3-4; AUGUSTUS, Seimone 1-1; CHANEY, Quianna 0-1). Fouled out–Baylor-YOUNG, Sophia, LSU-None. Rebounds-Baylor 35 (ALLISON, Rachel 6), LSU 50 (FOWLES, Sylvia 14). Assists-Baylor 11 (TISDALE, Angela 4), LSU 19 (WHITE, Erica 11). Total fouls-Baylor 20, LSU 13. A-9511
GAME NOTES
Seimone Augustus recorded her 81st straight double figure scoring game and the 116th of her career.
Augustus scored at least 20 points for the 60th time in her career.
Sylvia Fowles collected her 24th career double double and 12th this season.
LSU extended its’ home court winning streak to 27 game and its’ non-conference home court winning streak to 34.
LSU vs. Baylor
January 30, 2006
LSU HEAD COACH POKEY CHATMAN
Opening Statement…
“Usually when I give my opening statement I can find something that’s wrong, but there wasn’t a whole lot tonight. I think the energy and the execution led to so much offensively and defensively. And I was pleased with the way we extended it for close to 40 minutes. It didn’t matter how they played us. They played some man, they played some zone, they played some junk, and I thought we did a good job of executing to the tune of shooting the ball at 50 percent for the game.”
On the play of the LSU bench…
“We went in at halftime, and the first thing I said to the kids was about the play of our bench. It started with Florence (Williams) coming in for Ashley (Thomas) and putting down some jumpers, and also the two (Quianna Chaney and Khalilah Mitchell) who came in when we had some foul trouble. For Quianna Chaney to have a game like that where she was 3-for-3 from the free-throw line in the first half, but she also did a great job of extending the defense, running the offense and being a threat outside at all times. And Khalilah Mitchell did some things that people don’t even realize. When you think about the last possession of the half, we call an entry, and she executes it getting Sylvia (Fowles) the layup, and gives us more momentum heading into the half.”
On Seimone Augustus‘ performance…
“On top of her offense, I thought Seimone was great on the defensive end of the floor. I loved her energy. In the first four or five minutes of the game, she wasn’t getting very many looks. But she did not quit moving. She was, for lack of a better word, a decoy because she was really active. They would follow her and it would leave a gap open for other players on the floor. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it twice and I’ve said it 30 million times. That’s what separates her ? what she does without the ball in her hands.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On the effect the 2005 Baylor game had on this one…
“We can be intense every game regardless of what has happened prior to it. I think it did have a little motivation, but it wasn’t the key to anything. We knew we had to go out and compete and we had an opportunity to play a ranked opponent and a good team on national TV. We just thought we had to come out and prove ourselves.”
On what came to mind when she saw the national championship trophy sitting in the PMAC…
“The opportunity that we had the last two years to get it and the opportunity that we have to compete to get it this year. When you see that crystal ball it’s unbelievable. It’s something that you want to have to take home, and that’s the way we feel.”
On her and Seimone’s display of emotion after Seimone was fouled under the basket with about 2 minutes left in the first half…
“That’s the energy and the love we go out and play with. I love playing with this girl (Seimone) and everybody else. We go out and we want to have fun, and that was just a little display of that.”
On the pressure of playing point guard with this team…
“There’s no pressure. When I get out there all I want to do is get us going in transition. Tameka (Johnson) was great, but she’s gone now. We don’t really focus on what we happened before; we focus on what we have right now. Playing with these players is pretty easy to get us going and put the ball in the hole.”
On other teams backing off of her…
“They are backing off of me and I do think to take my shot, but the best post guard in the country (Fowles) and the best guard in the country (Augustus) and Sho (Hoston) putting the three in the hole so I just want to get them the ball.”
On scoring 50 points in the first half…
“It was nice to see that. We went out and we executed. We did all the things that we are capable of doing, and we just happened to put it all together in the first half for the first time this season.”
On whether she sees a big difference between Erica (White) and Tameka (Johnson) as far as carrying the team…
“No. I think Tameka (Johnson) was great, and you can’t replace what Tameka brought to this team, but Erica is holding her own and she’s doing an excellent job out there. She is a tremendous point guard. She has great court vision and she is good at what she does. I would never compare the two because they are both great point guards. They’re different in a lot of ways and they are alike in a lot of ways. They’re both quick and you better keep your eyes open when you running on that floor because they are going to get it to you.”
BAYLOR HEAD COACH KIM MULKEY-ROBERTSON
“I just thought (Sylvia) Fowles, wow, what a presence. We didn’t know how to guard her. We weren’t big enough. We weren’t strong enough. She is just a presence in there. All you can do is hope she maybe gets in foul trouble. My hat is off to that girl. That girl is just a presence. She’s good.”
“That team is good enough to win a national championship. It was a great crowd. I’m just sorry for television and women’s basketball purposes that we couldn’t make it a closer game and more competitive. I don’t want to take away from LSU guys. Those guys are good. I don’t want to make excuses. They won in every phase of the game.”
“When it rains, it pours. They played a great basketball game. Everything seems to go bad when you are behind, and everything seems to go well when you are ahead. They just got on a roll. Everybody contributed on that team. As I said, that team has the ability to win the national championship.”
“I don’t even know if I will go back and watch the film. This game isn’t going to hurt us, nor will it help us. Both teams are vying to get into the playoffs and in order to do that, they have to go to the SEC to win and we have to go to the Big 12 to win.”
“I wouldn’t like to play them on their own floor. I am not sure anybody does. They are good and they have the best player in the country. They have been to two Final Fours. That kid (Seimone Augustus) is playing for a national championship before she graduates. I’m not sure many people can do what that girl does. And when you have a presence in the paint like Fowles, that is pretty tough to defend.”