BATON ROUGE — Sophomore guard Katherine Graham drained two free throws with 7.9 seconds left, and the LSU women’s basketball team held on to defeat No. 18 Tennessee, 63-61, in front a raucous crowd Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers (16-9, 9-4 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight game and secured a bye in next week’s SEC Tournament in North Little Rock, Ark. The top four seeds receive byes and play on Friday against Thursday’s winners.
Tennessee dropped to 19-9 overall and 8-5 in league play.
Playing without its top player in Allison Hightower in the final 9:31, LSU further solidified its NCAA Tournament resume with its second win over a ranked opponent despite boasting five starters who had never made an SEC start heading into the season.
“What a win for our team,” LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. “I’m going to give Tennessee credit for roaring back. I couldn’t be happier for our team. I couldn’t be happier for (Kristen) Morris as a senior. I’m about as proud of this team as any coach could be.”
Hightower, who finished with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting, suffered through leg cramps through most of the second half. She reached double-figures for the 13th straight game and added 13 rebounds.
Freshman forward LaSondra Barrett led all scorers with 18 points to go along with two blocks and three steals. Senior forward Kristen Morris, who was playing in her final regular season home game, added six points and recorded the steal that clinched the game for LSU.
Morris tied up Glory Johnson in the left corner on the Lady Vols’ final possession as time expired. However, officials put 0.3 seconds back on the clock and LSU inbounded the ball as the final horn sounded.
LSU led by as many as 18 points, but Tennessee fought its way back to tie the game in the second half with a 15-4 run. Shekinna Stricklen’s 3-pointer with 8:33 left tied the game at 51-51.
Barrett then made a layup and Graham knocked down a jumper with 4:12 left that put LSU up 59-54. The Lady Vols responded to tie the game at 61 all on Angie Bjorklund’s two free throws with 1:04 to play.
Morris missed a jumper with 36 seconds to play, but Eason grabbed the rebound to give LSU another chance to break the tie. Graham then drove through the lane and drew a foul with eight seconds to play before burying the game-winning free throws.
Tennessee finished 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the floor after shooting 28 percent in the first half. LSU shot 45.5 percent on 25-of-55 from the field.
Bjorklund led all scorers with 21 points and Stricklen finished with 18 points.
LSU took advantage of 15 first-half turnovers by Tennessee that led to 17 points. The Lady Tigers mounted a 12-0 run in the first 10 minutes as the Lady Vols missed nine consecutive shots from the field after the score was tied at two apiece.
All five LSU starters scored in the first six minutes. Hightower dropped an eight-foot turnaround jumper to make it 12-2 and Morris followed with a bucket in the paint that upped the lead to 14-2.
Tennessee’s offense could not get into any rhythm as five LSU players recorded steals in the first 20 minutes. Stricklen finally ended the dry spell on a four-foot jumper with 11:45 on the clock.
LSU HEAD COACH VAN CHANCELLOR
Opening statement…
“What a win for our team. I’m going to give Tennessee credit for roaring back. With 12:09 left to play, we effectively lost Allison Hightower. We lost our best player with 12:09 to go, and we found a way to beat a really good team and a really good coach. I couldn’t be happier for our team. I couldn’t be happier for Morris as a senior. (Angie) Bjorklund was outstanding for them. I don’t think our defense let up the second half. (Shekinna) Stricklen just made shots and we couldn’t stop (Kelley) Cain. At the end I had no doubt what play we were going to run. If I could get my hands on the ball and tie it up, I knew what player the ball was going to. I was going to run something with (LaSondra) Barrett and (Katherine) Graham, screening and rolling and just hope Graham could get another shot or get to the free throw line. She made two big free throws. I’m about as proud of this team as any coach could be.”
On comparing this game to last season’s Final Four game…
“With .3 of a second, I got a little bit excited and they told me to calm down. I said I was up with seven seconds to go in the Final Four, I’m not losing this baby now, get the ball in bounds. At 7.9 seconds, I told them I didn’t think they would make the first shot, so you better rebound the ball.”
On letting Tennessee come back in the second half…
“I don’t think being up big and it going away was a problem until Allison Hightower got out. Then I really challenged (LaSondra) Barrett. I thought Barrett came in and made some big time plays. I thought the team made some big time stops in the last two minutes.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On the similarity between this game and the Final Four game last year…
“It reminded us of that game. We had to shoot free throws with seven seconds left in the game. Katherine (Graham) and I were just talking about how this scenario was very identical to the Final Four game last year.”
On how the team responded when Allison Hightower went down with a cramp …
“When Allison (Hightower) went down, we just came together. Coach Chancellor pulled me aside in one timeout and encouraged me to play like a leader. I tried play with a little bit more intensity. The whole team had to come together collectively and play hard. It was a great win.
On the great win tonight…
“It is always great to win a SEC game. Tonight was especially exciting for Kristen Morris, as she completed her senior season at home. Also, anytime you beat Tennessee, it is a great feeling. We needed this win.”
On her thoughts before going to the foul line with 7.9 seconds left in the game …
“I was just hoping I could make the two free throws. I knew it was one and one, so I had to made the first one. I was excited to give my team the opportunity to win, but at the same time I was praying that I made those shots.”
On if she has ever had to go to the foul line with the game on the line…
“I actually remember doing that in middle school. But it almost doesn’t compare to the intensity of this game. I made the shots then and that probably helped me make those shots tonight. We played very hard from start to finish. Those free throws were just two points to add to our win.”
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH PAT SUMMITT
Opening Statement …
“It’s obviously tough going on the road anywhere you go, but two young teams went head-to-head today with a lot of similarities. Our team, unfortunately, has had a lot of history here of getting down early and trying to fight back. I was really disappointed…in the first eight minutes we got down 14-2. Obviously, in the second half, we came out and did a much better job. This has been one of the most frustrating jobs for our coaching staff because we never know who’s going to bring what. We needed some more help off our bench and I think that really hurt us a lot. The starters didn’t get us off to a good start either. Give credit to LSU; I thought they played with tremendous confidence and they were very aggressive. Van has done a great job with a young basketball team and it appears he’s done a much better job than I have. We’ll go back and get ready for SEC’s. One good thing about it is that if we lose out early there we’ll have more time to practice for NCAA’s. They have to decide if they want to play or practice.”
On the rivalry between LSU and Tennessee …
“It seems like whenever we face each other there’s something on the line. Certainly there was last year in the SEC tournament and in the NCAA’s and certainly tonight. The winner of this game didn’t have to play in the first day of the tournament. There’s always a prize and tonight they won the prize.”
On Tennessee’s turnovers …
“Turnovers hurt us. We had 21 turnovers. If you look at the box for us and the box for them, they were just better. Turning the basketball over has been a problem for us all along. You can’t turn the ball over against a team that’s playing as well as LSU did tonight.”
On the last shot …
“Obviously we knew we didn’t have a lot of time, but we wanted to at least get a look at it. They had pressure on us and we didn’t have an opportunity.”