BATON ROUGE — Junior center Sylvia Fowles posted another double double on Thursday evening, as the No. 10 LSU women’s basketball team completed an undefeated four-game home-stand to start the season, 65-31, over UL-Lafayette in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers (4-0) open a five-game road swing that includes a trip to New Orleans to face Tulane on Sunday at 5 p.m. CST. From there, the Lady Tigers face No. 16 Baylor on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7 p.m. in Waco.
Fowles, who had 16 of LSU’s 29 first-half points, played only 25 minutes and ended the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds. The 6-6 Miami, Fla., native had seven offensive rebounds and made 8-of-14 shots. She was the only Lady Tigers player in double figures scoring.
LSU led 29-16 at the break after shooting just 40 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. The Lady Tigers then erupted early in the second half and jumped out with a 17-1 run.
“We weren’t locked in offensively as far as executing the game plan,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “But, when we left the locker room after halftime they took my instructions to the court. We really established Sylvia (Fowles) in the first five possessions of the second half. When we do that it opens up things for everybody else because she is such a demanding and dominating presence.”
Fowles outscored ULL after 30 minutes of play, 20-19, as LSU led at that point, 47-19.
Guard Quianna Chaney and forward Ashley Thomas each added eight points for the Lady Tigers, while guard Katie Antony came off the bench to score seven. Guard RaShonta LeBlanc and reserve forward Kristen Morris each scored six points.
LSU shot 43.3 percent from the field (26 of 60), while the Ragin’ Cajuns (2-2) finished only 10 of 46 (23.1 percent).
The Lady Tigers outrebounded ULL, 43-29, and blocked seven shots.
Center Sonora Edwards scored 10 points to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns. Guard Whitney Dunlap added nine, and forward Yolanda Jones scored seven points on 2-of-14 shooting with 10 rebounds.
The victory was LSU’s 35th straight the Maravich Center and the 38th in a row against non-Southeastern Conference opponents. The 35 straight home wins, which leads the nation, will be challenged again with LSU returns to the Maravich Center on Dec. 2 to face Detroit at 2 p.m. CST.
LSU HEAD COACH POKEY CHATMAN QUOTES
Opening statement…
“I thought in the first half we let them control the tempo of the game. We understand they usually try and pick their spots to run and try to shorten the game a little bit. We weren’t locked in offensively as far as executing the game plan. I thought when we left the locker room at halftime that they took my instructions to the court. We really established Sylvia (Fowles) in the first five possessions of the second half. When we do that it opens up things for everybody else because she is such a demanding and dominating presence.”
On having a two-day break before the next game…
“We will make sure we keep their legs fresh, but it will be nice to have the opportunity to break down things on tape. Instead of just talking through things we will have more time to practice. Hopefully we can get into more of a rhythm on offense to be prepared for our game on Sunday.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On the team’s defensive efforts…
“I think we did a good job on defense tonight. We came out and did what we had to do. We slacked up a little bit, but we came back and played together.”
On how they have played in the first few games…
“Well I think we came out together, but as Sylvia said, I’m still not satisfied. I think we can come out and do much better than we have.”
On how she played against a 2-3 zone…
“I think I did well for the most part. I came out with the mindset that I would get dominated from the get-go. But, my teammates played well and they were able to get me the ball a lot.”
On opening up another dimension to score points…
“I know teams will double me and try to bring me down. So I just have to have the mindset that I will be dominated on the block , so I must find different ways to get to the basket.”
Coach J. Kelley Hall Quotes
On the defense…
“We played good defense the first half and then I made a change at the 10-minute mark. It made them miss like five straight times. We just quit rebounding the ball I don’t know if fatigue set in or what. I don’t want to make excuses. But they really started missing a lot of shots and we couldn’t get the rebound.”
On the offensive ball movement…
“I wasn’t that pleased to be honest with you. We are struggling as you know at the point guard position Jeanenne Colbert and Courtney Ratliff have not had any practice. Whitney Dunlap needs more minutes at wing to shoot the ball instead of playing the whole game at point. I think that would help us too. But no I was not pleased with the way we handled the ball tonight Once again you have to give LSU credit. They turned the heat up on us and they kept the players fresh and I think that was part of our problem.”
On the fourth game in five days…
“It affected us and I know fatigue set in. Yolanda wasn’t herself, but they know who she is. They (LSU) did an outstanding job on her, but she still got 10 rebounds for us. I felt like once again that she went out and got the ball. I was disappointed in the rest of them as far as rebounding; I thought we were a little better than that.”