BATON ROUGE — Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus combined for 43 points and 21 rebounds as third-ranked LSU broke open a tight game with a 30-5 run late in the first half on its way to a 78-63 Southeastern Conference win over Ole Miss on Sunday at the Maravich Center.
The win extended LSU’s SEC winning streak to 22 straight and ran the Lady Tigers record to 20-1 overall and 8-0 in league play. LSU also stretched its home court winning streak to 28 straight. The win also sets up a top five matchup on national television between the Lady Tigers and Tennessee in Knoxville on Thursday.
With the defeat, Ole Miss lost for the fifth time in six games and fell to 12-10 overall and 2-7 in conference action.
Augustus paced the Lady Tigers with 22 points, her 83rd consecutive game in double-digits, while Fowles added 21 points and game-high 13 rebounds for LSU to record her league-leading 14th double-double.
For the game, the Lady Tigers held the league’s No. 1 rated rebounding team to just 30 rebounds, 14 below its average.
“We knew there were a couple of things that we needed to do a good job in, and that was obviously on the rebounding end of it and then trying to keep Ole Miss off the free-throw line because they’re one of the best in the league at getting to the free-throw line,” LSU coach Pokey Chatman said. “I thought the first couple of minutes of the game that we let our offense take the shape of their defense. But then we locked in and we started executing the script, and that led to some good baskets, and the defense picked up some good transition baskets.”
Ole Miss controlled the contest early, building as much as a six-point lead, 16-10, on a three-pointer by Armintie Price at the 13:41 mark in the first half. The Lady Rebels kept the lead for the next three minutes before a jumper by Augustus put LSU up for good, 17-16, with 10:16 remaining in the half.
Augustus’ jumper was part of a 30-5 Lady Tiger run, a stretch that saw LSU go from six down to taking a 40-21 lead on a layup by Augustus at the 2:43 mark. LSU led 40-25 at halftime.
Ole Miss never threatened as LSU extended its lead to 20 points, 55-35, on a three-pointer by Scholanda Hoston at the 13:18 mark. The Lady Tiger lead reached as much as 23 points, 76-53, on a three-pointer by Erica White with 2:56 to go.
“I’m not excited about giving up 63 points in the manner in which we gave them up,” Chatman said. “I thought in the second half we didn’t do as good a job (on the defensive boards and) we gave up too many offensive rebounds.
“I don’t know how many second-chance points they got, but it’s one of things where if you give them an extra possession it’s an extra opportunity for them to get another basket or get a foul, and it puts a lot of pressure on you. But fortunately we played enough quality minutes against a quality opponent to get the win.”
Joining Fowles and Augustus in double-figures for the Tigers was White, who added 11 points and a team-high five assists.
Carla Bartee came off the bench to pace Ole Miss with 17 points, which included hitting 4-of-6 from three-point range. Price added 15 points for the Lady Rebels.
LSU HEAD COACH POKEY CHATMAN
Opening statement…
“We knew there were a couple of things that we needed to do a good job in, and that was obviously on the rebounding end of it and then trying to keep Ole Miss off the free-throw line because they’re one of the best in the league at getting to the free-throw line and also at rebounding. I thought the first couple of minutes of the game that we let our offense take the shape of their defense. But then we locked in and we started executing the script, and that led to some good baskets, and the defense picked up some good transition baskets.”
On Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles having good games despite the physical defense they faced…
“That’s a credit to Seimone, and I think it’s a credit to Sylvia as well. They get hammered, they get held, they get bumped, but they keep moving. A lot of times that movement and activity will open things up for someone else. That’s true team offense when you continue moving to the basketball, draw some attention, and hopefully have an advantage somewhere else on the floor.”
On LSU’s defensive performance…
“I’m not excited about giving up 63 points in the manner in which we gave them up. I thought in the second half we didn’t do as good a job (on the defensive boards and) we gave up too many offensive rebounds. I don’t know how many second-chance points they got, but it’s one of things where if you give them an extra possession it’s an extra opportunity for them to get another basket or get a foul, and it puts a lot of pressure on you. But fortunately we played enough quality minutes against a quality opponent.”
On the Tennessee game this week…
“We are going to enjoy this victory, but we look forward to it, playing Tennessee especially on their home court. The last time we were up there we lost by twenty points or so and it is an opportunity for us to get better, to get some experience by playing a top ranked team and seeing where we are at going into their hostile environment.”
On Sylvia’s upcoming match-up with Tennessee Center Candace Parker…
“It is going to be difficult for both teams. I think that she (Candace Parker) is going to have problems defending Sylvia (Fowles) but at the same time it is not going to be up to Sylvia to defend her it is going to be up to our whole team. That’s our goal, its team defense so we are going to try to do our best to try to contain her and I think that Sylvia is going to do a great job defending her as well.”
On defending Tennessee Center Candace Parker Thursday of this week…
“Of course it is something that a lot of people are waiting to see, but it is nothing different for me. It is just the next opponent and she (Candace Parker) just happens to be matched up with me and that is just what it is.”
On being in the top 20 for all-time scoring at LSU…
“I didn’t even know about it, but it is a nice notch. I got a better looks tonight than I did at Arkansas. They weren’t letting me look at threes at all.”
OLE MISS HEAD COACH CAROL ROSS
Opening Statement…
“Obviously the better team won. They’re awfully talented. They’ve got a lot of good players, but they’ve got two great players. I thought we battled them up about as well as we could have. But I really think (Sylvia) Fowles really terrorized us on the offensive boards. She was very productive when she got them, she either was putting them back in or getting to the foul line. She shot the ball from the free-throw line very well, seven for eight. If she can start doing that, there’s not a lot of weakness there. They played well, I thought we played well defensively, other than boxing out and the fouls and there was a stretch offensively when we really struggled and it turned out to be the difference in keeping the game closer.”
On how she thought her team played…
“We are a scrappy, defensive team. We try to create and manufacture ways to play with team’s the caliber of LSU. I thought our team was very responsive to the game plan. I thought they worked hard, like they always do to stick around and hang in there and disrupt and get the game a little bit ugly. Our problems really came on the offensive end and LSU had a great defense. Things are hard to come by, buckets are hard to get and we got nothing easy, until a little bit in the second half. We always come out of the locker room ready to play.”
OLE MISS GUARD ARMINTIE PRICE
On scoring against LSU in the lane…
“It was a little bit difficult, they were playing me different ways, but it’s going to be difficult every night. You’ve just got to find ways to create and score.”