BATON ROUGE — Sylvia Fowles scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the first 12 minutes of the game, as the seventh-ranked LSU women’s basketball team got the best of Ole Miss on Sunday at the Maravich Center, 78-48, to extend its win streak to 13 straight games.
LSU (22-3, 11-0 SEC), which can clinch the league with two victories in its final three contests, also hit 6-of-12 first-half three pointers to build an 20-point advantage in the first 13 minutes.
Ole Miss (10-14, 4-7 SEC) narrowed the gap to 12 just before the break. However, the Rebels struggled against the Lady Tigers’ defensive side, committing 17 turnovers and having 10 shots blocked in a 32.3-percent shooting performance.
“Coming of Thursday’s big win at Tennessee we were pretty focused today,” LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. “I was very pleased with that. Ole Miss was pesky and kept fighting today.”
The Lady Tigers upset No. 1 Tennessee on Thursday night to take a 1.5 game lead in the Southeastern Conference standings.
Fowles dominated early on, converting 8-of-10 shots in the opening half. The 6-6 All-American played 28 minutes and made 9-of-13 shots with 14 rebounds, five blocks and two steals.
Reserve guard Allison Hightower continued her streak of fine play, scoring 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 24 minutes. Hightower was 3-of-5 from three-point range, as the Lady Tigers made 8-of-20 from beyond the shooter’s stripe.
After hitting three early three pointers, Quianna Chaney wasn’t able to return to form for the duration. The sharp-shooting Lady Tigers guard finished 3-of-16 from the field for nine points with four assists.
LSU point guard Erica White tallied six assists and two steals, while guard RaShonta LeBlanc added five assists and six rebounds.
LSU outrebounded Ole Miss, 47-33.
After Ole Miss scored the game’s first basket, LSU scored the next eight points. The Lady Rebels cut the deficit to two, 8-6, before Fowles and Chaney combined to hit seven unanswered. Ole Miss wasn’t able to get within seven again.
Hightower’s consecutive three pointers and a layup by Fowles pushed the LSU advantage to 16, 27-11, with 9:56 left in the first half. Ole Miss’ Elizabeth Robertson came off the bench to score nine points including a pair of three pointers to keep the Lady Rebels within sight of LSU, though Ole Miss trailed 44-29 at the half.
Shooting less than 30 percent from the field in the second half (9 of 32), Ole Miss was unable to mount a comeback. The Lady Rebels trailed by more than 20 for the final 10 minutes against mostly LSU reserves.
The Lady Tigers return to action on Thursday, Feb. 21, when Kentucky comes to the Maravich Center for a 7 p.m. contest. LSU defeated Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Jan. 27, 72-46.
GAME NOTES
– Sylvia Fowles scored 12 of LSU’s first 19 points to reach double figures for the 22nd game this season and the 112th game of her career. Fowles finished the game with 22 points.
– Fowles recorded her 14th double double of the season and the 76th of her career with 22 points and 14 rebounds today.
– Fowles reached the 20-point plateau today with 22 points. It was her 34th career 20-plus point game and the seventh this season.
– Allison Hightower scored in double figures for the 12th game of the season and the 17th game of her career with her 13 points today.
– Ashley Thomas scored in double figures for the fifth game this season and the 15th game of her career with 10 points today.
– Quianna Chaney moved into 18th-place on LSU’s career scoring list with her 9 points today. She finished the game with 1,174 career points, passing DeTrina White.
– LSU recorded 10 blocked shots for the first time since blocking 10 UNC Ashville shots in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament on March 17.
– LSU moved to 11-0 in the SEC for just the second time in the program’s history, joining the 2004-05 team that went 14-0.
LSU HEAD COACH VAN CHANCELLOR
Opening statement…
“I thought that after coming off of a big emotional win Thursday night (against Tennessee) that our team was pretty focused and did what they were supposed to so, I was pretty pleased with them. Anytime you win by 30 and you can play all of your players it is good. Also, I thought Ole Miss just kept fighting and kept coming back.”
On Fowles scoring 19 points in the first half…
“I don’t think 19 points is just another day at the office. I thought that it was a great first half and we did a nice job of getting (Fowles) the ball. At 22 and 14 she is really dominant. I think she is just so focused. I think everyone wants an SEC Championship, but Sylvia (Fowles) and Erica (White) are playing with extreme focus.”
On standout performances of the past two games…
“I thought Allison Hightower really played the last two games. She came in tonight and she came in against Tennessee. She came in tonight when (Quianna) Chaney was struggling and shot the ball remarkably well. I think Ashley Thomas has also played really well. She had seven rebounds against Tennessee and seven rebounds tonight.”
On his lineup…
“Under no condition are we going to mess with a line up that has won 13 games in a row, under no condition am I going to change the senior line up and I have instant offense coming off the bench, so I am not going to change that under any condition either.”
On getting more rebounds…
“We had to be a better rebounding team and that is what we are. We do it because Ashley Thomas is getting more (rebounds) and our wing players are getting more as well. That is big. I do think Allison Hightower deserves the 6th Player of the Year Award.”
On the difference between the team from November until now…
“The difference is daylight and dark. Early in the year, we would have struggled today. We gave up a lot of points early. We would have only had about 60 points. We are shooting the ball well and running the ball well. Our offense is so much farther along now and we are getting the ball where I want Sylvia (Fowles) to have it, deep and low. Our offense has really been pleasing.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On keeping the momentum going after Tennessee…
“A lot of people were expecting us to come out flat after our big win (at Tennessee) because we might be a little tired. We just wanted to prove to our coaches and everyone else that we want a championship, so we just tried to come out and play hard.”
On how she improves her shooting…
“I just try to get with Coach Travis (Mays) and shoot as many shots as I would in a game so that I can get comfortable doing it. Coach Van (Chancellor) just wants you to be comfortable and play the best you can play.”
“I have to the perimeter players and also Ashley (Thomas) for getting me the ball. I didn’t want to have a let down. We had a shaky practice coming back in from Tennessee and the coaches were afraid that we were going to come out flat. I just came out and made sure I was on point to set the tempo and did what we had to do.”
On comparing the place they are this season to this time last season…
“Last year is last year. Right now at this moment in time I think we are all on the same page. We are playing team ball.”
On Allison Hightower…
“It takes a lot of pressure off of us because it’s unexpected when she gets into the games. Everyone knows that she knows how to shoot and knows how to drive, but it’s so unexpected. She gets to the three point line, shoots, and it is going in.”
OLE MISS HEAD COACH RENEE LADNER
On if the Lady Rebels feared the Tigers coming into the game…
“I don’t like to use the word fear. I absolutely expected LSU to be dominating in the paint as well as being very effective on the perimeter. I think LSU is right now in championship form. I didn’t go in telling my players that we were just going to run in and charge and be able to attack and beat this team. I just feel that they are very good right now. They’re going to make a great run. They just came off a good win against Tennessee, and we expected to have to put our best foot forward, which we did not.”
On LSU guard Allison Hightower‘s performance off the bench…
“We knew (Allison) Hightower is an excellent shooter. You have to pick your poison, and then, you have to try to cover as many areas as you can, and obviously, we did not do a good job covering her. One of the game plans when you’re in a situation like this is you try to not let anybody get back-to-back threes (3-point shots) because it will fuel them. Well, if you stop the three, then you have to stop the inside, so, no, she was not a surprise. We knew that she was a very capable player.”
On what the Rebels can take from playing a team like LSU…
“We’re a work in progress. We lost our only returning starter in the very first game of the year who had swagger and a lot of confidence. All year, we’ve been trying to put pieces together to have someone step up. We made a little run there and cut the lead to ten. Our kids played with a little fire, and the look on their faces was very good. So, what I take from that is if we can put it together for any length of time, we can compete at high levels. I didn’t want to get beat by 30, naturally, but I just wanted to see the look in their eyes, which I had not seen all year. Being young, we have a freshman point guard and a sophomore in the 2-guard (position), I felt as if they battled. We ask them to battle every night, so that’s what we take because we still have three games left, and I think that those are three that we can possibly get because two of them are at home. I feel good about that.”