AUSTIN, Texas — Third-seeded LSU forced 25 turnovers and held No. 14-seeded UNC Asheville to 27-percent shooting, as the Lady Tigers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, 77-39, late Saturday.
LSU (27-7) improved to 10-2 in NCAA first-round games — including nine-straight — and 29-16 in tournament history, while UNC Asheville (21-12) lost in its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Tigers will face No. 11-seeded West Virginia in the second round on Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. CT. The winner advances to the Sweet 16 next Saturday in Fresno, Calif.
LSU defeated West Virginia on Nov. 12, 64-25, in the season opener at the Basketball Travelers Classic held in Baton Rouge. West Virginia shot only 20.2 percent and committed 24 turnovers in the contest.
The Mountaineers upset No. 6-seeded Xavier, 65-52, on Saturday.
LSU acting head coach Bob Starkey, an assistant coach at LSU for 18 years, earned his first win as a head coach. He is a native of Charleston, W.Va., and began his coaching career in 1985 at West Virginia State.
Tonight, LSU’s guards led the way, as UNC Asheville put at least four players around 6-6 center Sylvia Fowles when she was on the court.
Though Fowles tallied only eight points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes, LSU’s shooting guards paced the team offensively.
RaShonta LeBlanc and Quianna Chaney each scored 15 points. LeBlanc matched a school record in tournament play with 5-of-6 three-pointers, while Chaney was 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Point guard Erica White added 10 points and seven assists.
LSU finished 29-of-66 from the field (43.9 percent) including 9-of-18 from three-point range. UNC Asheville was only 15-of-55 shooting and hit 5-of-19 three-pointers.
The Lady Tigers got 29 points from its bench, which saw plenty of action even in the opening 20 minutes.
UNC Asheville was led by Katie Baldwin and Kyla Jones with seven points each. Their 25 turnovers led to 27 LSU points.
LSU set or tied school records in tournament play in several categories including: blocked shots (10); three pointers (9); three pointers attempted (18); opponent turnovers (25, four times); opponent free throw percentage (4 of 12, 33.3 percent).
Eight minutes into the contest, LSU opened a 10-point lead, 17-7, as the Lady Tigers made three three-pointers against the Bulldogs’ packed-in 2-3 zone.
Midway through the half, Starkey rested his starters and played every reserve on the LSU bench.
With its All-American and All-SEC players out of the game, LSU maintained a seven-point lead with consecutive second-chance baskets by Katie Antony.
The LSU starters returned after the 7:54 media timeout and quickly took control of the game.
The Lady Tigers allowed only two field goals in the final 9:19 of the half, while outscoring the Bulldogs, 18-5.
LSU led 39-19 at the half after making 6-of-13 three pointers and forcing 15 UNC Asheville turnovers.
With a 9-0 run to start the second half, LSU’s lead blossomed to 46-19. The Lady Tigers were well on their way into the second round, as they led 62-24 with less than 12 minutes to play after opening the half on a 23-5 run.
Once again, the LSU starters left the game — this time for good.
Game #4 Notes
LSU vs. UNC Asheville
NCAA Tournament First Round
Austin, Texas
March 17, 2007
- With the win, LSU improves to 27-7 on the year. The win was the first for LSU acting head coach Bob Starkey. LSU has been included in the NCAA Tournament field 17 times, including nine straight. The Lady Tigers are now 29-16 overall in NCAA Tournament action, 10-2 in NCAA First Round games, and 4-1 as a No. 3 seed.
- With the loss, UNC Asheville finishes the season at 21-12. Head coach Betsy Blose is 76-71 in five seasons at UNC Asheville. Her career mark for 12 seasons is 190-148.
- LSU’s 9 three-pointers were the most by the Lady Tigers this season. Their previous high mark was seven against both Tulsa (November 24) and Kentucky (January 18). The nine three-pointers are also an NCAA mark for the Lady Tigers. LSU’s previous high was 8 three-pointers against Maine in the 1997 NCAA Tournament and Notre Dame in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
- LSU junior RaShonta LeBlanc set a new personal mark for three-pointers with 5 treys. Her previous best was 3 three-pointers, which she had collected on five different occasions. LeBlanc’s 5 three-pointers also tied the LSU individual mark for threepointers by a Lady Tiger in NCAA action. She now shares the record with Latasha Dorsey and April Brown who had 5 three-pointers against Notre Dame in 1999 and Connecticut in 2000, respectively.
- LSU junior Sylvia Fowles tallied 8 points, marking just the second time this season that she did not reach double figures in scoring. Fowles scored a season-low 5 points against Tulsa on November 24.
- LSU’s and West Virginia’s wins in the first round of the NCAA Tournament set up a rematch of the Lady Tigers’ and the Mountaineers’ season opener. LSU downed West Virginia, 64-25, in the Basketball Travelers Classic in Baton Rouge on November 12.
Game #4 ? LSU vs. UNC Asheville Game Quotes
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Austin Regional 1st & 2nd Round
Austin, Texas
LSU Acting Head Coach, Bob Starkey
(Opening Statement): I think that the thing that was probably evident to me was that we came out with a lot of intensity. I thought we played hard for 40 minutes. I didn’t think it mattered what combination. One of the things we did that was probably a little different was we made a conscious decision before the game that we were going to play all 12 players in the first half. It’s been a difficult week and our staff felt like our kids’ attitude and work ethic was tremendous and we wanted to give them some ownership to this game so we wanted to make sure we played everybody and we were really pleased with how they responded. I think the other thing that is probably evident was we shot the ball really well and sometimes that is there for us and sometimes it not, so hopefully that’s a sign of things to come in the tournament.
(On how the game went): Well I think anytime we go back and we’ll look at some game tape there’s always going to be some areas we need to approve upon. We needed to do a better job of getting the ball into Sylvia. Certainly Asheville did a nice job defensively of collapsing around her but those are things that have been commonplace for us. I thought defensively, I was just really pleased with our intensity. We did some things defensively in terms of trapping ball screens. They’ve got a really nice three-point shooter, [senior guard Brittany Hendley], and our game plan was not help off on her, whoever was guarding her. [Junior guard RaShonta LeBlanc] did most of the night was chase her around screens. We wanted to try and take the other kid, [senior forward Amanda Elder] out of their offense. I thought for the most part we did those things. I think the energy and the intensity was there, but for us to do those things within our defensive game plan, I think that shows mentally we were locked in pretty good, too.
Jr., Guard, Erica White
(On the other team stopping Sylvia Fowles): I thought UNC [Asheville] did a pretty good job packing it in the zone. It’s really difficult to try to get inside when there’s a lot of people around Sylvia, so I credit them to taking away are chances of getting her the ball, but I also credit our shooters for knocking down open shots.
(On LSU defense): I think that’s every night. I said all year, we’re a good team defensively and tonight one of our focuses was to come out and get our hand on the basketball and get some deflections.
(On the game): I think we came out and played the way we play all year. We knew we were just going to come out and play Lady Tiger Basketball.
Jr., Guard, RaShonta LeBlanc
(On the other team stopping Sylvia): To start off they were in a zone, so we were in our zone offense. E penetrated the gap. We got open shots and we just made the shots, tried to take the pressure off Syl since they were packing it in. We knew we needed to make the open shots, outside shots, to get the pressure off Syl and that’s what we tried to do.
(On LSU shooting): We were just trying to knock down open shots and take the pressure off of Syl.
Jr., Guard, Quianna Chaney
(On shooting the ball well tonight): It felt great. I’m going to try to do anything I can to help my team out and help us get to the Final Four.
UNC Asheville Head Coach, Betsy Blose
Opening Statement:
We are obviously disappointed in our performance. I’d like to congratulate LSU. They are a very, very talented team. We came out with the focus of trying to limit Sylvia Fowles, and I thought we were successful with that, but you had to kind of pick your poison. They shot the ball from the arc very well, and that was something we had to give up early. We tried to make a few adjustments that didn’t work as well. Give credit where credit is due; they are a very talented team, and I’d like to wish them well as they go to the next round.
On LSU’s shooting: Our first priority was to collapse on Sylvia Fowles and make them beat us from the three, and they did. They are a great team. I thought they hit shots. We tried to make adjustments and go out to guard them, and then they put it on the floor and penetrated.
Sr., Forward, Amanda Elder
On LSU’s athleticism: They are very long and got their hands on everything. Their hands were all over you, hand-checking, collapsing with three people around you. [They are] athletic and just a great team.
Fr., Guard, Kyla Jones
On LSU’s shooting: We did not expect them to shoot the ball as well as they did, but they hit shots and we had to adjust, and the adjustments didn’t work. Their shots were just amazing tonight. [With our] hands in their faces, they were still shooting, knocking them down.