BURNABY, British Columbia — Junior guard Allison Hightower scored 19 points and was one of four Lady Tigers who finished with double-figures as the LSU women’s basketball team completed a 3-0 record in Canadian exhibition play, 71-47, over Simon Fraser University on Sunday night.
The Lady Tigers, who swept a doubleheader against the University of British Columbia and Trinity Western University on Saturday, trailed as much as many as seven points against Simon Fraser on Sunday.
SFU took a 20-13 lead on a lay-up by Laurelle Weigl with 0:11 left in the first quarter. However, LSU chipped away at the deficit and knotted the game at 25 apiece on a lay-up by Katherine Graham at the 2:39 mark in the second quarter.
LSU forced SFU into three turnovers in the final three minutes of the first half. Following an SFU 3-pointer that tied the game at 28-28 with less than a minute to play, the Lady Tigers regained the lead into the locker room when freshman Courtney Jones converted a lay-up as time expired.
LSU took that momentum into the second half and opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run culminating with a Jones lay-up that gave the Lady Tigers a 40-28 advantage with 5:47 to play in the period.
Simon Fraser cut the deficit to six points, but LSU pulled away in the final quarter with a 16-3 run. Hightower delivered five points during that stretch, and she finished the game 8-of-15 from the field with five rebounds and three steals. Graham and freshman forward Swayze Black each added three steals. LSU outscored SFU, 23-7, in the fourth quarter.
Jones and senior Kristen Morris each poured in 10 points, and Graham finished with 11 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of action. LSU held Simon Fraser to just 20 percent from the field in the second half and 26 percent for the game.
Due to an anticipated landfall of Hurricane Gustav on Monday morning, LSU will remain in Vancouver, Canada, until at least Tuesday morning.
The Lady Tigers officially open the season at home in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic on Sunday, Nov. 16. LSU takes on Notre Dame in the first game at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2. Texas A&M and Pittsburgh face off in the second contest at 4 p.m. CT.