BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s basketball team put together an 11-0 run to close the first half and cruised the rest of the way as the Lady Tigers won their third straight game, 65-40, over Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (4-3) captured its 24th consecutive contest against a Louisiana opponent and defeated the Lady Lions for the 19th straight meeting. Southeastern fell to 5-4 overall.
Junior guard Allison Hightower led LSU with 11 points ? her fifth double-figure game of the season ? on 5-of-8 shooting with four rebounds and two steals. Sophomore guard Latear Eason finished with a career-high nine points off the bench while dishing out two assists and knocking down 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
Sophomore guard Katherine Graham grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and added nine points and three assists.
“Latear Eason and Katherine Graham played really well for us tonight,” LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. “I was really pleased with their play. I thought (Allison) Hightower played well. Southeastern did a nice job of playing us tonight.”
“We’ve been trying to emphasize running more to get easy baskets because we’ve been struggling to score. In turn, we tried to press to get easy baskets to score also. I thought that worked. I thought our defense in the first half on their three-ball was a little bit left to be desired.”
For the third consecutive game, the Lady Tigers held an opponent to under 30 percent from the field as Southeastern shot just 24.6 percent (14-of-57). LSU forced the Lady Lions into 22 turnovers, including 16 in the first half, while five Lady Tigers tallied two steals apiece.
LSU closed the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 29-19 lead into the locker room. The Lady Tigers forced 16 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and turned an early deficit into a double-digit lead.
After LSU scored the game’s first four points, Southeastern took its only lead on 8-0 run that culminated with a Kim Edmondson 3-pointer at the 14:56 mark. However, senior forward Kristen Morris came off the bench and put the Lady Tigers ahead on a jumper and then converted a left-handed layup on a steal.
Southeastern battled back and took a short-lived 19-18 advantage at the 5:43 mark before freshman forward Courtney Jones scored five of the next nine points ? including four free throws — and Graham and Hightower connected on jump shots. Kristy Carlin’s 3-pointer with 5:43 to play in the period was Southeastern’s final score of the half.
Graham upped the run to 13-0 out of the locker room on a layup, and the Lady Tigers tacked on a 16-0 spurt midway through the half that put the game away. Eason scored on a crossover with 11:49 to play, and junior guard Andrea Kelly buried a wide open 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 50-26 in favor of LSU.
Several Lady Tigers saw significant action as Chancellor emptied his bench the remainder of the game. Kelly finished with seven points, and freshman forward Ayanna Dunning scored four points in season-high 12 minutes of playing time. Eleven of the 12 LSU players who saw action scored as the Lady Tiger bench outscored Southeastern’s, 31-7.
Southeastern guard Charinee Mitchell led all scorers with 14 points.
LSU plays its first road game of the season as the Lady Tigers travel to Shreveport, La., to face Centenary at noon CST in the Gold Dome. Live streaming video of the contest will be available to members of the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net.
LSU HEAD COACH VAN CHANCELLOR
Opening Statement…
“Latear Eason and Katherine Graham played really well for us tonight. I was really pleased with their play. I thought Hightower played well. Southeastern did a nice job of playing us tonight. Their coach, with what they had, did a whole lot better of a job than I did with what I had.”
On Southeastern’s 3-pointer shots…
“I told them ahead of time that Southeastern had made 16 against Ole Miss. I told them not to give up any three balls and that the very first three plays, we were going to double ball screen. Well we just struggled with that tonight.”
On LSU’s offensive rhythm…
“We’ve been trying to emphasize running more to get easy baskets because we’ve been struggling to score. In turn, we tried to press to get easy baskets to score also. I thought that worked. I thought our defense in the first half on their three-ball was a little bit left to be desired.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On if this win is an indication of good things to come …
“This game is a sign of what is to come. I think we have a lot of room to grow. We are a young team. Every day we come to practice ready to play and learn about one another. With this win, we took a step in the right direction.”
On how everyone contributed to the win …
“Everybody contributed to this win in one way or another. It was a combined effort. Towards the end we had some people come off the bench and play very well. It was not just one player. Everyone came together as a team and we played with motivation.”
On how Southeastern surprised LSU in the first half …
“They were hitting shots from the outside very well in the first half. That surprised us. We were not ready for that. When we came out of the half, we had to make some adjustments on defense.”
On what adjustments needed to be made at halftime …
“In the first half we did not play very well. The other team hit their 3-point shots. Also, we were not playing that hard and we let them get some rebounds. We needed to lock down and really focus on the task at hand. We also needed to come out with a better effort in the second half.”
On how the team prepares defensively …
“We have been working on defense a whole lot during practice. LSU has always been known for having great defense. We can get there. We just need to find that offense, and it will come as the year progresses.”
On if this game will give LSU some momentum …
“It is very important that we get better. Next Saturday we have a big game here and we must improve in every step we take. This game gave us a good boost of confidence that will carry us into the tough schedule we are about to face.”
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA HEAD COACH LORI DAVIS JONES
Opening Statement …
“I thought LSU played defense outstandingly. And we had 22 turnovers because of their outstanding defense.”
On her team’s play in the second half …
“I don’t think we regained our energy coming back out after the half. I think playing as well as we did in the first 15 minutes and LSU going back into their press on us I feel like we never regained our focus and our motivation.”
On taking so many three point shots …
“We have players that can hit shots and hit the three pointers. I feel like we’re very balanced. Hitting the three is something we can do rather easily when we don’t have 22 turnovers, but we are a very balanced team, inside and out. I feel like everyone who watches our team appreciates that and respects that.”
On the team’s shot clock problems …
“I think they outmanned us a little bit; they outmuscled us. I don’t remember us coming off of very many clean screens.”