BATON ROUGE — Senior forward LaSondra Barrett led a trio of double-figure scorers with 14 points and the 20th-ranked LSU women’s basketball team rolled past Arkansas-Pine Bluff in record-breaking fashion by a score of 80-28 on Monday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (3-1) held the Golden Lions to eight points in the first half, the fewest allowed by the Lady Tigers in any half in school history. The eight points shattered the previous low of nine set on four instances, including most recently against Alabama in the first round of last year’s Southeastern Conference Tournament. It was the fifth single-digit half allowed by LSU in school history.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff dropped to 0-4 on the season and committed 35 turnovers, just six shy of the LSU opponent record of 41 set by Centenary in 1982. The Golden Lions shot 21.3 percent for the game and made just three field goals in the first 20 minutes.
“This group was challenged on Sunday (in practice),” said LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell. “We came out tonight and really took the things we really wanted to focus on the offensive end and defensive end and executed them well. We were able to go deep into our bench and our bench responded. It’s early, and we’re going to continue to grow and learn.”
The Lady Tigers quickly put behind a tough overtime loss to Tulane on Saturday with a blistering 42-4 run in the final 14 minutes of the first half that had the game decided by halftime. Jeanne Kenney sparked a 14-0 spurt with LSU’s only three of the night and Bianca Lutley drove to the lane for two consecutive layups.
Barrett finished with a game-high 14 points and seven rebounds. She was 5-of-6 from the floor and has notched double-figures in all four of the Lady Tigers’ contests this season. Adrienne Webb had her best game of the young season with 12 points and Theresa Plaisance came off the bench for 11 points.
Charnecia McRae broke the LSU 14-0 run with a bucket at the 9:58 mark, but the Lady Tigers compiled another 13-0 run that put the game out of reach. Barrett knocked down two jumpers and Sheila Boykin scored her first collegiate points on lay-up that made it 30-6 with 6:31 to go in the first half.
The final fireworks of the first half came with 12.4 seconds on the clock when freshman standout Krystal Forthan, making her first career start, nearly dunked on a breakaway. Her attempt bounced off the rim and LSU held a commanding 47-8 advantage into the halftime locker room.
“Krystal (Forthan) is such a talented young lady,” said Caldwell. “That’s just another part of the game that’s going to bring excitement, but at the end of the day, I just want her to make two points.”
LSU worked several combinations of its bench in the second half and improved its shooting percentage with a 54.2 percent effort in the final 20 minutes. The Lady Tigers shot 47.1 percent for the game, collected 20 steals and out-rebounded the Golden Lions, 52-29.
LSU will play its third game in four days at 7 p.m. Tuesday as Northwestern (Ill.) visits the Maravich Center for the first time. The Lady Tigers lost last year’s season-opener in Evanston.
The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive free Lady Tiger koozies.
The contest will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network on 107.3 FM. It will also be televised live on Cox Sports Television (cable channel 37 in Baton Rouge) with Lyn Rollins and Victor Howell handling the call.
LSU Defense Single-Digit Halves
8 – vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Nov. 21, 2011 (first half)
9 – vs. Alabama; SEC Tournament; March 3, 2011 (first half)
9 – vs. Centenary; Nov. 15, 2009 (first half)
9 – vs. McNeese State; Dec. 20, 2006 (first half)
9 – vs. Alabama State; Dec. 7, 2002 (second half)