SAN ANTONIO, Texas — LSU’s ninth-ranked women’s basketball team came out of its offensive shell on Saturday afternoon in a 105-52 victory over Eastern Washington in the final game of the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) Thanksgiving Classic at UTSA’s Convocation Center.
The Lady Tigers (7-1), who entered the game shooting 43.9 percent and averaging 66.7 points as a team, shot a season-high 53.1 percent (43-81) and 6-12 from three point range in the victory, while five players scored in double figures.
“Sometimes your toughest opponent is yourself. We have been struggling in some areas so it was nice to see that we really keyed in on our game goals,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “We did a great job of executing offensively. We did a relatively good job of securing rebounds and we took care of the basketball. We also had several player play significant minutes and there was no drop off. The execution level stayed at its highest.”
Mesha Williams, who earned All-Tournament team honors, led the way with a career-high 19 points on 8-12 shooting. The 6-3 junior forward also grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds to help LSU to a 52-27 margin on the boards.
Eleven of Williams’ 12 rebounds were on the offensive side of the floor, almost half of LSU’s 24 total offensive rebounds.
LSU converted those 24 offensive rebounds into 30 second chance points.
Sylvia Fowles had 17 points and seven rebounds for LSU, while Quianna Chaney had 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Ashley Thomas and Erica White each added 10 points.
White, also an All-Tournament team selection, dished out a game-high eight assists to go with her 10 points in just 13 minutes of action.
LSU jumped out early in the game, scoring 10 of the first 12 points and never looked back. The Lady Tigers then used an 18-0 run in the middle of the half to lead 35-7 and led 56-19 at the half.
A quick start 13-2 to the second half allowed the starting five to give way to LSU’s bench that scored 54 points as a group. All 12 players logged at least 12 minutes of action.
In addition to the five players in double figures, Marian Whitfield and Khalilah Mitchell both had a career-high eight points and Porsha Phillips and Allison Hightower chipped in seven each.
LSU’s defense proved solid again. The Lady Tigers held Eastern Washington (2-3) to 30.8 percent shooting from the floor, forced 27 turnovers and collected 13 steals.
GAME NOTES
– LSU scored 56 first-half points, the most in a half this season and the most in any half since the Lady Tigers scored 55 in the first half against Ole Miss on March 3, 2006.
– Mesha Williams‘ 19 points and 12 rebounds are both career-highs.
– Marian Whitfield‘s eight points are a career-high.
– Khalilah Mitchell‘s eight points are a career-high.
– Mesha Williams‘ 11 offensive rebounds were the most by a Lady Tigers since Seimone Augustus grabbed 10 against Georgia on Feb. 2, 2003).
– LSU reached the 100-point plateau for the first time since a 107-39 victory over Southern on Nov. 22, 2005.