BATON ROUGE — LSU forward Tasmin Mitchell of the men’s team repeated after a second strong week and LSU women’s leader Allison Hightower used a performance in an upset over nationally-ranked Florida to earn Louisiana Sports Writers Association Player of the Week honors announced on Tuesday.
Mitchell had one of the biggest games in the state at Mississippi State on Feb. 11 when he played 49 minutes in a 97-94 double overtime win. He made 12-of-15 field goals including both trey attempts and 15-of-18 free throws in scoring 41 points with 11 rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. It was the first 40-point game at LSU since Ronnie Henderson scored 40 on the exact same date, Feb. 11, in 1995. It was the seventh double double of the season for the junior from Denham Springs.
Mitchell also played 36 minutes in Saturday’s game at Ole Miss, scoring 20 points with nine rebounds to give him 61 points and 20 rebounds for the two games.
On the women’s side, Hightower led all scorers with 21 points, one shy of a career high, to lead LSU to the win over No. 9 Florida, 66-47, at the Maravich Center. It was the Lady Tigers’ first win over a ranked opponent in six tries. She finished 9-of-20 from the floor and gathered a career high five steals, blocked two shots and dished our three assists. He steal and ensuing layup with 5:02 remaining gave LSU a 52-38 lead as the Lady Tigers cruised home the rest of the way.
Hightower reached double-figures for the 10th straight game becoming the first LSU player to do that since Sylvia Fowles last season. Hightower reached the 20-point plateau for the third time in her career.