SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Junior forward LaSondra Barrett scored a game-high 17 points to lift the LSU women’s basketball team to its first victory of the season by a score of 63-51 over Massachusetts in the first game of the Anaconda Sports “The Rock” Seton Hall Classic at Walsh Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
After a sluggish start, LSU (1-2) muscled its way inside and UMass fell victim to foul trouble. The Lady Tigers shot 19-of-27 from the free throw line and finished 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the floor.
Defensively, the Lady Tigers held every player out of double-figures for the first time since the Florida game last February. The Minutewomen (0-3) committed 21 turnovers and shot 31.9 percent (15-of-47) in what was the first meeting between the two teams.
“We are still fouling too much but we got to the line more than they did,” said LSU head coach Van Chancellor. “We didn’t shoot the ball well but I hope they start falling. We tried to play a lot of players tonight, but we haven’t found the right rotation.”
Barrett endured tough games at Northwestern and against No. 7 Ohio State, but the preseason All-Southeastern Conference standout responded on Friday with her first double-figure game of the season. The SEC’s leading free throw shooter a year ago, she finished 9-of-10 from the line.
“I was glad to see Barrett play well for us,” said Chancellor. “She didn’t shoot as well, but she took it to the goal and shot a lot of free throws.”
Sophomore Adrienne Webb scored 15 points and knocked down three treys for her third straight double-figure scoring game, a first in her career. Forward Taylor Turnbow scored seven points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds with three blocks. Senior Katherine Graham chipped in nine points and three assists in 32 minutes.
Leading by six early in the second stanza, UMass scored six straight points with back-to-back three-pointers by Megan Zullo and Kelly Robinson to knot the game at 32 apiece. LSU then took control with a 9-0 run of its own culminating with a Webb bank shot that made it 41-32 with 13:29 to go.
Webb added a dagger with a triple at the 2:21 point and the Minutewomen were forced to foul in the final two minutes. Graham buried a pair of free throws and Barrett finished it off with two more to account for the final margin.
LSU misfired on 14 of its first 15 shots in the first half, including its first seven shots until Courtney Jones put the Lady Tigers on the board with a lay-up at the 15:04 mark. Massachusetts committed 11 first-half fouls and LSU took advantage when Barrett knocked down 4-of-4 from the stripe.
Webb struggled in the first stanza, but put LSU ahead on the Lady Tigers’ first 3-pointer of the game with 5:16 left. They took a 30-26 advantage into the locker room.
Zullo led UMass with nine points, four rebounds and three steals.
LSU plays its second game of the Seton Hall Classic at 3 p.m. CST Saturday when it takes on the host Pirates (1-1). The contest will be carried live on the LSU Sports Radio Network on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and in the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net/live.
“We are going to have to dig down and find a way to play better tomorrow,” said Chancellor. “This will be a tough challenge. They will be well rested and ready to play.”