BATON ROUGE ? LSU women’s basketball team gave its hometown fans a dominating victory late Saturday evening by defeating No. 15 seed Jackson State,66-32, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers (28-5) will now face seventh-seeded Marist, who rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to beat 10th-seeded DePaul, Monday at 6 p.m. CDT. It will mark the final game in the Maravich Center for LSU’s eight seniors. The winner will advance to Sweet 16 in New Orleans.
The victory improves LSU’s record in NCAA first-round games to 11-2 and marks the 10th-straight year the Lady Tigers have advanced to the second round of the tournament. Jackson State’s 32 points is the fewest LSU has ever allowed in an NCAA Tournament game.
Three Lady Tigers scored in double digits. Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles led all scores with 16 points to go along with her seven boards.
Quianna Chaney made five of her nine shots to compile 14 points.
Mesha Williams provided a strong all-around performance off the bench with a season-high 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
The Lady Tigers opened the game on a 10-2 run. With LSU up 12-4, Jackson State hit a three to cut LSU’s lead, 12-7, with 12 minutes to go in the first half. The five-point separation would be the closest the Tigers would get for the remainder of the night as the Lady Tigers only allowed two more baskets in the first half and went into halftime with a commanding 33-11 lead.
Jackson’s State’s 11 first-half points is the lowest amount of points LSU has relinquished in a half since limiting Tulane to 10 points in the first half of their game in New Orleans on Dec. 2.
After extending their lead to 53-18 in the second half, the LSU starters were pulled for the remainder of the game. LSU’s bench carried the starters’ momentum by scoring 28 points to put the finishing touches on the Lady Tigers’ dominating performance.
LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND POSTGAME NOTES
LSU vs. Jackson State
March 22, 2008 ? Baton Rouge, La.
Team
– Jackson State’s 11 first-half points are the fewest allowed by LSU in a half of a NCAA Tournament game, surpassing the 14 scored by Stephen F. Austin in the second half of the first-round game on March 16, 2000 in a 57-45 LSU victory in Baton Rouge. The 11 points by Jackson State are the second fewest points scored in a half in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
– Jackson State’s 32 points are the fewest points allowed by LSU in a NCAA Tournament game, breaking the previous mark of 36 scored by Stetson in the first-round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn.
– Jackson State’s 23.1 field goal percentage if the lowest by a LSU opponent in a NCAA Tournament game. The previous low was 24.1 percent by Stetson in the first-round of the 2005 Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn.
– LSU improved to 11-2 in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament with tonight’s win. The Lady Tigers are now 5-0 in first-round NCAA Tournament games played in the Maravich Center.
– LSU improved to 11-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in the Maravich Center.
– LSU improved to 3-2 as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
– LSU is now 33-17 in NCAA Tournament history.
Individual
– Sylvia Fowles moved into a third-place tie with Temeka Johnson for career post-season games in LSU history. Tonight’s game was Fowles 16th.
– RaShonta LeBlanc moved into fourth-place for career post-season games in LSU history, playing in her 15th game tonight.
– Erica White and Quianna Chaney both moved into a fifth-place tie for career post-season games in LSU history. They played in their 14th game tonight.
– Sylvia Fowles scored in double figures for the 30th game of the season and the 119th game of her career with 16 points in tonight’s game. Fowles has now scored in double figures in 11 of her 16 NCAA Tournament games.
– Quianna Chaney scored in double figures for the 27th game this season and the 66th game of her career with 12 points tonight. She has also now scored in double figures in five NCAA Tournament games.
– Sylvia Fowles collected her career-high with six steals in tonight’s game.
– Mesha Williams scored in double figures for the fourth game of her career and the second game this season with her 14 points tonight. Williams’ 14 points are a season-high.
– Sylvia Fowles moved to within 11 rebounds of Valerie Still’s Southeastern Conference career rebounding record. Fowles finished the game with seven rebounds to give her 1,514 for her career. Still, the former Kentucky star, collected 1,525 during her career.