BATON ROUGE — In her final home game, LSU’s Seimone Augustus did not disappoint, scoring a game-high 27 points to lead the third-ranked Lady Tigers to a 62-48 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
With the win, LSU (25-2, 13-1 SEC) also won its second straight outright Southeastern Conference regular season title.
Augustus, along with fellow seniors Scholanda Hoston and Florence Williams played in the Maravich Center for the final time of their careers and were honored prior to the game.
Mississippi State (6-21, 1-13 SEC) hung with LSU for the first 10 minutes of the game, tied 16-16 with 9:18 left before the break. The Lady Tigers then closed out the half on a 15-2 run; holding the Lady Bulldogs to just two free throws during the stretch.
LSU extended its lead to 40-20 after opening the half on a 9-2 run and never looked back. MSU never got any closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
“When things were a little bit sluggish for us this afternoon it was always a senior who got a big rebound, hit a big shot, got a loose ball or a steal that kept us together when things weren’t going real well,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “Those are things that are not often seen when you are winning basketball games, but I am on the inside looking out, so I see them all of the time.”
Williams had four points and seven rebounds, while Hoston had four points and three boards to go with three steals.
Sylvia Fowles added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the victory, LSU’s 31st straight home-court victory, and Ashley Thomas chipped in six points and seven rebounds coming off the bench.
Robin Porter led Mississippi State with 17 points and nine rebounds.
LSU held Mississippi State to just 31.7 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers. The Lady Tigers shot 44.8 percent from the floor themselves and each team grabbed 39 rebounds.
The Lady Tigers, the No. 1 seed in the Sec Tournament, will play on Friday at noon CST at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., against the winner of Thursday’s No. 8 seeded Ole Miss vs. No. 9 seeded Arkansas.
Mississippi State vs LSU
02/26/06 2 p.m. at Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)
At Baton Rouge, La. (Maravich Center)
LSU 62, MISSISSIPPI STATE 48
MISSISSIPPI STATE (6-21, 1-13 SEC)
PORTER, Robin 8-17 0-0 17; MCKINNEY, Mamie 6-18 1-1 14; HOLLIS, Heather 2-5 0-0 6; WARREN, Doceide 1-6 1-2 4; JOHNSON, Miayorka 1-5 0-0 3; HENDERSON, Natasha 0-0 2-2 2; CHEKWA, Blessing 1-3 0-0 2; RICHARD, Marneshia 0-1 0-0 0; HILLIARD, Chalandra 0-0 0-0 0; WORKMAN, Bethany 0-0 0-0 0; ROBERTS, Lauren 0-5 0-0 0; REEDER, Amy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 4-5 48.
LSU (25-2, 13-1 SEC)
AUGUSTUS, Seimone 12-25 3-4 27; FOWLES, Sylvia 4-8 4-12 12; THOMAS, Ashley 3-5 0-1 6; HOSTON, Scholanda 2-6 0-0 4; WILLIAMS, Florence 2-7 0-0 4; LeBLANC, RaShonta 1-3 2-3 4; CHANEY, Quianna 1-2 0-0 3; MORRIS, Kristen 1-1 0-0 2; WHITFIELD, Marian 0-0 0-0 0; MITCHELL, Khalilah 0-0 0-0 0; WHITE, Erica 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 9-20 62.
Mississippi State…………. 18 30 – 48
LSU……………………… 31 31 – 62
3-point goals-Mississippi State 6-15 (HOLLIS, Heather 2-5; MCKINNEY, Mamie 1-2; WARREN, Doceide 1-1; PORTER, Robin 1-3; JOHNSON, Miayorka 1-2; ROBERTS, Lauren 0-2), LSU 1-4 (CHANEY, Quianna 1-2; HOSTON, Scholanda 0-1; AUGUSTUS, Seimone 0-1). Fouled out–Mississippi State-None, LSU-None. Rebounds-Mississippi State 39 (PORTER, Robin 9), LSU 39 (FOWLES, Sylvia 10). Assists-Mississippi State 9 (WARREN, Doceide 4; MCKINNEY, Mamie 4), LSU 11 (WHITE, Erica 3). Total fouls-Mississippi State 17, LSU 15. A-10074
Eighth-largest crowd in LSU women’s basketball history.
-Game notes-
– LSU won its second straight outright Southeastern Conference regular season championship with a 13-1 record.
– Seimone Augustus moved into second-place on LSU’s all-time scoring list with her 27 points, moving past Julie Gross. Gross collected 2,488 points her career and Augustus has 2,513 and counting.
– Augustus extended her consecutive double figure scoring streak to 89 straight games. She also reached 20-plus points for the 20th time this season and 66th of her career.
– Sylvia Fowles recorded her 18th double double of the season and 30th of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
LSU Head Coach Pokey Chatman
Opening Statement
“There is a reason why this press conference is a little different; I specifically wanted to be up here with these seniors on this last day for a press conference in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. I obviously will get to the basketball game that was played but these three have been a part of so many special games and moments of LSU Lady Tiger basketball history. I thought that it was only fitting that I went out with them in their last press conference here. I thought that when things were a little bit sluggish for us this afternoon it was always a senior who got a big rebound, hit a big shot, got a loose ball or a steal that kept us together when things weren’t going real well. And those are things that are not often seen when you are winning basketball games, but I am on the inside looking out, so I see them all of the time. It is the glue that holds you together, and that glue was shown today. It may not have been obvious to the ten thousand fans that were here, and I want to thank them for coming out in droves and sending this special group off in grand fashion.”
On controlling her emotions for Senior Day…
“It was extremely difficult. I’m still in that place right now for a lot of reasons and I could go there, I have probably gone there in the last two weeks in front of all of these kids as a result that they have shown over their career here where day in and day out they get it done. Not just the areas where you guys report on because it is part of their athletic career, but as young ladies who represented LSU in grand fashion both socially as well as academically. And that is the part that kind of ages me, I feel like a surrogate mom, I feel kind of proud of the fact that I got to witness that growth.”
LSU Player Quotes
On putting senior day behind and focusing on the rest of the season…
“We just have to get back to practice and start looking toward the post season. We have to start focusing on winning the tournament and winning the overall goal, which is a national title. I have had a great time here, but it is time to move on and try to achieve bigger and better things in life.”
On not being too emotional…
“That wasn’t important. I didn’t think tears would have helped the situation. There were enough emotional people in here and I didn’t want to bring the house down.”
On moving on…
“I think the team understands that. It might be a little hard for the fans. They might hold on to it for a week or so until the SEC Tournament starts. We are focused and we understand what we have to do. Once practice starts everything about senior day is gone and it’s time for us to focus.”
On how her pregame routine was different…
“It was my normal routine. I got claps, tears and pictures when I was walking up, but once I got inside the PMAC everything else was the same.”
On realizing that her career is coming to an end…
“I am going to try not to be. I think it is just now starting to sink in. When I realize that this is the last press conference that I am going to do and hearing other people saying it is what is really making it sink in. I am getting a little sad, but I am going to try to hold it in.”
On hearing the final buzzer go off…
“I was weird. It wasn’t the buzzer. It was looking at the crowd and realizing that this was the last time I was going to see that many people in purple and gold in this house cheering for us. That is what got me.”
On playing on her injured foot…
“It is kind of hard when I’m trying to run on it and push as hard as I can. It kind of hurt a little bit, but I got through it.”
MISSISSIPPI STATE HEAD COACH SHARON FANNING QUOTES
On her team’s performance…
“I felt like we fought hard and that’s important. We kept our heads up in the last eight minutes of the first half. We had a couple of different combinations that didn’t go well and had two quick turnovers that gave them some momentum. Being able to fight back in the second half and be in a position to cut the score under ten was good. LSU is a very good basketball team so I am pleased with how we fought.”
On Seimone Augustus…
“When I look at her, her game is so explosive with her cross over and she is just so aggressive. Seimone’s a great player and one of the best to play the game. She has a great future ahead of her.”