DULUTH, Ga. — For the second time in as many days, the No. 11 LSU women’s basketball team avenged a regular-season loss, as the Lady Tigers knocked off No. 2 Tennessee, 63-54, to advance to the SEC Tournament title game.
Fourth-seeded LSU (26-6) advanced to the tournament championship game for the third-straight season, and will face No. 3-seeded Vanderbilt in the SEC final on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live by ESPN2, as well as in the Geaux Zone and on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
Vanderbilt, which defeated LSU in Nashville (68-58 on Feb. 22) opened a 32-10 first-half lead on its way to blowing away No. 2-seeded Georgia in Saturday’s nightcap, 81-56. LSU will attempt to avenge its third of four regular-season conference losses.
The Lady Tigers handed regular-season champion and top-seeded Tennessee (28-3) its first conference loss in 16 games this season.
LSU All-SEC center Sylvia Fowles once again led the Lady Tigers on both ends of the court, dominating the boards and filling the paint on the defensive end to frustrate the Lady Vols. Fowles finished with 19 points, 20 rebounds and three blocked shots in 40 minutes. With the effort, Fowles moved into the Top 10 in career scoring and into the Top 5 in career rebounding at LSU.
Fowles also helped to hold the SEC Player of the Year, Tennessee’s Candace Parker, to a season-low four points on 2-of-11 shooting. Parker scored 27 in Tennessee’s 56-51 regular-season win over LSU in Baton Rouge.
LSU point guard Erica White scored 17 points for the second-straight game, adding three assists and two steals. She made 9-of-12 free throws. Freshman Allison Hightower was 5-of-11 shooting for 12 points.
The Lady Tigers finished 22-of-50 from the field (44 percent), but made 10 more free throws than Tennessee attempted (17 of 22). Another key to beating Tennessee is the rebound margin. Once again, LSU won, 34-29, as each team had seven offensive rebounds.
With Parker struggling from the field, Tennessee turned to Alexis Hornbuckle, who scored 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting before fouling out in the final minute. She also had nine rebounds, three assists and two steals, while hitting 4-of-5 three pointers.
However, the Lady Vols made only 10-of-29 second-half field goals. After starting the game 10-of-17 from the field, Tennessee made only 11 of its final 39 shots to finish 21-of-56 (38 percent).
No other Lady Vols player scored in double figures, as Nicki Anosike scored nine and Sidney Spencer — also 2-of-11 from the field — finished with seven.
The Lady Tigers were held scoreless for the first 3:29, missing their first four shots and committing a turnover. In the mean time, Tennessee built a 7-0 lead before LSU’s RaShonta LeBlanc scored the Lady Tigers’ first basket with 16:31 left in the half.
The Lady Vols built an 11-point lead after a layup by Hornbuckle with 13:57 on the first-half clock and kept an eight-point advantage, 24-16, after a Spencer jumper with 8:52 left.
LSU responded with a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to take its first lead, 28-26.
Though a three-pointer by Hornbuckle allowed Tennessee to retake the lead, Fowles scored LSU’s last seven points of the half to lead, 34-29.
Tennessee cut the LSU lead to two, 38-36, on another three pointer basket by Hornbuckle. However, LSU once again responded to the challenge by going on a 7-1 run over the next five minutes to lead 45-37.
Fowles’ jumper off the glass with 6:47 left gave LSU its first double-digit lead, 51-41. Chaney then pushed the lead to 12 with a jumper off an in-bounds pass.
Hornbuckle scored consecutive baskets and Spencer added a pair of free throws to tighten the usually-tight contest between the SEC powerhouses going into the final media timeout at 3:47.
After LSU went more than four minutes without a field goal when Erica White converted a reverse layup to push its lead to eight, 55-47, with 1:26 left.
After a long three pointer by Spencer, White made 1-of-2 free throws to keep the LSU lead at six, 56-50, with 1:02 left.
A missed jumper by Tennessee guard Shannon Bobbitt forced the Lady Vols to foul White again and allowed White to hit two more free throws and ice the game with 47 seconds left.
SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament
FIRST ROUND – Thursday, March 1
Game 1: #8 South Carolina def. #9 Auburn, 65-63
Game 2: #7 Kentucky def. #10 Arkansas, 72-57
Game 3: #5 Ole Miss def. #12 Alabama, 78-49
Game 4: #11 Florida def. #6 Mississippi State, 67-60
QUARTERFINAL ROUND – Friday, March 2
Game 5: #1 Tennessee def. #8 South Carolina, 81-63
Game 6: #2 Georgia def. #7 Kentucky, 72-40
Game 7: #4 LSU def. #5 Ole Miss, 52-46
Game 8: #3 Vanderbilt def. #11 Florida, 105-77
SEMIFINAL ROUND – Saturday, March 3
Game 9: #4 LSU def. #1 Tennessee, 63-54
Game 10: #3 Vanderbilt def. #2 Georgia, 81-56
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – Sunday, March 4
Game 11: #4 LSU vs. #3 Vanderbilt, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 9 – Saturday, March 3 – 6:45 p.m.
#4 LSU vs. #1 Tennessee
LSU Notes
- With the win, improves overall record to 25-6, 11-4 in conference games
- The Lady Tigers will now face the winner of the Vanderbilt/Georgia game for the SEC Championship, advancing to the final round for the third-straight year
- The win evens LSU’s all-time SEC Tournament record to 25-25
- LSU has defeated Tennessee in the SEC Tournament more times than any other team, with today’s win being the fourth for the Lady Tigers over the Lady Vols in SEC Tournament play.
- The Lady Tigers were led by junior Sylvia Fowles with 19 points and 20 rebounds; good for her 21st double-double against SEC opponents, 19th straight game with a double-double, and has now scored in double figures in 25 consecutive games
- Also scoring in double-figures were junior Erica White with 17, and freshman Allison Hightower with 12
- Fowles’ 20 rebounds was one shy of tying the SEC Tournament record for most rebounds in a game
- Fowles moved to 10th on LSU’s career points list with her 19 point performance tonight, surpassing Madeline Doucet’s 1533 total; the junior now has a career total of 1536 points
- Fowles increases her most-ever rebounds by a junior record to 414; is now fifth on the all-time rebounds in a season list with 408
Tennessee Notes
- Junior guard Alexis Hornbuckle scored 29 points, shattering her previous career-high of 19, which she had scored on two occasions.
- Hornbuckle’s 9 rebounds ties her season high.
- Hornbuckle recorded a steal for the 66th time in her last 67 games.
- Sophomore forward Candace Parker scored just 4 points to set a new season low. It was just the second time this season that she has been held to fewer than 10 points.
- The loss was the first for Tennessee since falling to #1 Duke on Jan. 22. The Lady Volunteers entered the game on an 11-game winning streak.
- This marked the third straight year that the teams have met in the SEC Tournament. In each of those three meetings, the team that won the regular season contest has dropped the tournament game.
- LSU represented the 14th ranked opponent of the 2006-07 season for UT. The Lady Vols are now 11-3 against ranked teams this year.
LSU QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: Now joined by LSU head coach Pokey Chatman and student athletes Sylvia Fowles and Erica White.
Coach Chatman, if you could make an opening comment and then we’ll take questions.
COACH CHATMAN: I think I have to start this press conference with the effort that we gave defensively and our ability to really carry out a scouting report defense that, you know, starts with trying to limit some of the touches by Candace and also get to their shooters. So I have to start there. More importantly, when we got off to the slow start offensively. I thought we did a good job of executing our offensive game, spread the floor a little bit. Knew they would be pretty aggressive. Sort of screen the passers so we could get some good looks to the baskets. Kids never got rattled. It’s tough to come out, get off to a slow start on this stage. But they held their composure. I credit Erica a lot with that out on the perimeter and Sylvia held it down in the paint. We were fortunate enough to have the defensive effort throughout and not lose offensive momentum when Tennessee changed their defense. They went to a little zone. We still executed. They thought of switching screens, we still executed. All out good effort both intelligently and effort wise.
Q. You both know each other well. Your team knew the scouting report. What was different from the game in Baton Rouge? What made the game plans on offense and defense more successful?
COACH CHATMAN: I think defensively we took the second 20 minutes from Baton Rouge and we did a better job of running someone at Candace, not letting her have comfortable touches. And that’s not it. They’re not a one person team. The help is not enough you have to recover. I thought we were help in our help and our recover and we were a lot more disciplined when you look at the shots that we made them miss. We didn’t give up second chance opportunities.
We were lucky to be in the ballgame last time giving up 20. We merit defensive effort with securing some rebounds.
Q. First timeout after being down in a big hole, what did you say to the ladies to get the momentum turned around?
COACH CHATMAN: Basically just said the same thing we said coming out of the locker room: Just slow down, spread the floor. They’re going to be aggressive. Someone pass the ball, screen the passer. You’re going to have wide open look.
Because we missed a couple of them. I think Rashonta was the first person made the pass. We screened for her. She missed a layup. Those shots are going to be there. Slow down, calm down. Not really a change, just something to stop the bleeding.
Q. How many paychecks does Sylvia get for this game?
COACH CHATMAN: An opportunity to advance to tomorrow. Sylvia went out, you know, did what she’s done for most of the year against a quality opponent on this stage. She never wavered. She goes 40 minutes again. One, two, three people on her. Really held it down in the paint for us.
SYLVIA FOWLES: Too bad I don’t get a paycheck for this one. Just a great feeling to just advance tomorrow and be ready to play is my paycheck.
Q. Can you comment on the play of Allison Hightower, how she just really stepped up big for you on the offensive end.
COACH CHATMAN: Allison has shown that throughout the year. It’s so hard for a freshman coming in, you don’t ever give them a chance to get acclimated because you throw them to the wolves. She’s finally comfortable in the open court taking her shot or making the shot, creating something for herself. She sort of has that little ice water in your veins. When they’re young they don’t know any better. They’re just out there playing the game that they’ve been playing. She knows these kids have so much confidence in her. They want her to take that shot, because she’s taken them all year at practice and earlier in the year.
Q. Erica, you seem to really have found an attacking style again on offense, especially in this tournament. What have the coaches helped you with? What have you told yourself leading up to these games that allowed you to go inside?
ERICA WHITE: Basically what I told myself is just to come out and play fearless and smart. I think that’s a deadly combination when I can put that together. The biggest adjustment I made is just jump stopping in the lane, getting the defense in the air, making my layups, usually getting a foul on the defense, going to the line, making my free throws. Offensively I’m just playing smarter, being better with the ball. Like I say, I’m just trying to get to the paint, jump stop, create a shot for myself, and find my teammates.
Q. Sylvia and Erica, talk about how fulfilling it was to get that win after Tennessee got the win from you at the house.
SYLVIA FOWLES: It was a great feeling. Back then when we played them at our house, we had time to sit down and recover, look over the things that we didn’t do well and some things that they didn’t do well and how can we stop them. We just brung it out tonight. We brung it for 40 minutes.
Q. You played the No. 2 team in the country. You out rebounded them. You beat them. You shot 44%. You held them under 40%. Is this the best game you guys have played this year?
COACH CHATMAN: Oh, gosh, you know, for this time of year, you’d have to say yes just because, you know, you’ve gotten an opportunity not as it relates to us but also about position. As the year goes on, Tennessee’s going to get better, and so you know the challenge is greater, especially on this stage. It’s a team that ran the table in this conference. They’re the measuring stick. If you can be successful against that measuring stick, I guess you would have to say that, all things considered. But I still think there’s things we can do better, like eliminate the first four minutes of games where we have high low possessions. We’ll get there.
Q. Pokey, the very end of the season you guys really lost some close games to highly ranked teams, a couple on your home floor. Tonight I sensed not only defensively but offensively you really came together as a team. Can you comment on that?
COACH CHATMAN: Yeah, you’re talking about two and three in that five game stretch. There’s not a lot of shame in the teams you lost to, two possible No. 1 seeds, Vanderbilt at Nashville. The caveat that goes unmentioned was Ashley Thomas. She was not with us those five games. She played 11 minutes against Connecticut. She doesn’t score a lot of points, but she just helps you defensively. She knows where to go. She helps you offensively because she can set that solid screen that’s going to lead to someone helping and having a shot for a shooter, all those coach things that we love. So it’s nice having her back. She gave us some solid minutes. That’s why we schedule those games. You hope you can learn from them, and I think we did.
Q. Both players, third straight time in the tournament final. A little something left in the tank for the final tomorrow?
ERICA WHITE: Yeah, there’s definitely fuel to the fire. We have an opportunity ahead of us to take out an opponent that beat us earlier in the year, no matter who wins the game tonight. We’ll definitely be ready to play tomorrow. Gonna get some rest and come out energized.
SYLVIA FOWLES: I agree with Erica. We’re just going to enjoy this for the last few moments, last few minutes, take it back, reenergize and bring the energy tomorrow.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
TENNESSEE QUOTES
THE MODERATOR: Now joined by Tennessee head Coach Pat Summitt and players Nicky Anosike and Alexis Hornbuckle.
Coach, if you could make an opening comment and then we’ll take questions.
COACH SUMMITT: I think if you just take a look at this game statistically and you look at the paint points that LSU got, the inside presence that Sylvia Fowles gave them, tremendous. Erica White, what she brought to their team in terms of just how productive she was both offensively and getting her team involved. You know, we got whipped right down the middle. They were just better. They had a post game. We didn’t have a post game consistently. They did an awful lot from their point position. Obviously, very disappointed that we didn’t match the intensity. When I say that, I’m talking five people on the floor at all times. I thought LSU was much more inspired one through five. Just really made a lot of great plays.
Obviously Alexis had a super effort. Nicky did a great job for us, I thought gave us, as she always does, a tremendous defensive effort on the inside. Then the other thing that was glaring to me was the bench play. We didn’t get much off of our bench in terms of being productive and making a difference, and they obviously got a lot more than they did.
They were a better team tonight than we were. They had some better overall play as a basketball team both defensively and offensively.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. Alexis, could you talk about your play, the point production, what you were able to accomplish offensively this evening.
ALEXIS HORNBUCKLE: I came out tonight with a mindset that I wanted to give 110%. No matter what the outcome of the game, I wanted to feel like I didn’t let my teammates down. You know, I got great looks. Tonight I was able to knock ’em down.
Q. Coach, is there any way you can explain what happened with Candace tonight? A career low in scoring. Was it what they were doing defensively? Was she being lackadaisical? Any explanation?
COACH SUMMITT: Well, I felt like, you know, obviously there were times we couldn’t get her the basketball because they did a good job of defending her with a player and a half or two players. But then I thought she settled for a facing up, not posting up. We really needed her to establish an inside game for us. Obviously, it was physical. But, you know, I think that’s where we have to learn. She has to really just be very deliberate in getting what she wants in the paint. It just hurt us not to have a strong presence there because as she goes we go inside. We have to have that. She knows that. I’m sure no one feels more pain about this than she does. But, again, we just felt like we just couldn’t establish the inside. We didn’t establish the inside game consistently. That’s where we should have been.
Q. Obviously a lot of basketball ahead of you ladies. What do you tell your team after a tough loss like this?
COACH SUMMITT: Well, we have to learn from it. You know, this team, they’ve been very committed to do what we’ve asked them to do as a coaching staff. They’ve taken ownership. I don’t think that’s going to change. You know, I think this loss hurts everyone. Everyone in the locker room’s disappointed: Coaches, players. We know we can’t win post season without five people playing, without our bench bringing what they need to bring. The one concern I had coming in is, you know, what’s this going to mean to our team one through ten? How are we going to handle this? It’s happened in the past. When we’ve been able to win the regular season it’s been far more difficult to win the tournament. I think LSU, as far as looking at their motivation and their desire, their commitment across the board, when they had five players on the floor I think they all were on a mission to try and win this game. I don’t feel like we had that strong a commitment and desire one through five at all times.
Q. Nicky, can you talk about Sylvia Fowles’ performance? Is that as good a post performance as you’ve ever seen?
NICKY ANOSIKE: She was just strong in there for them. I tried to guard as best I can, but obviously she ended up with 19 points so I didn’t do as well as I should have for this team. But, yeah, she was strong in there for them.
Q. Coach, maybe the difference Erica White gave to them, wasn’t able to score as much at the game in Baton Rouge.
COACH SUMMITT: I think just watching Erica, watching her play last night, I thought very, very aggressive. I thought we did a better job when we played at LSU. I thought our defensive pressure was much better. She’s just the type of player that really pushes tempo. I think she’s been more involved for them offensively. We didn’t match her intensity. I mean, if I had to say, again, down the middle, point guard play, post play, we were not where we needed to be to have a chance to win this game tonight. You know, I think likewise, when she’s making plays, we’re not getting our key scorers involved, you know, Spencer’s got to shoot better for us, Parker’s got to post up and score more for us on the block. We know what we have to do. They did what they had to do and scored from the positions they needed to score from. We just didn’t match it.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.