BATON ROUGE – Morgan Jones converted two free throws with 11.8 seconds left and the 20th-ranked LSU women’s basketball team saw a nine-point second-half lead slip away in a 44-43 loss to Northwestern on Tuesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers (3-2) dropped their second straight game to the Wildcats after falling in the season-opener last season in Evanston. Northwestern (4-0), in its first trip to Baton Rouge, overcame a 33-24 deficit at the 11:29 mark in the second half to record the come-from-behind victory.
LaSondra Barrett led LSU with 11 points – her fifth straight double-figure scoring game – while grabbing five rebounds. Jeanne Kenney dished out a career-best seven assists. Adrienne Webb chipped in eight points and six rebounds in the loss.
“When you come up short, obviously you don’t look at the last possession or the one before that,” said LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell. “You look at a combination of possessions over the course of the game. We talk about being a 40-minute team and tonight we didn’t play for 40 minutes. We probably had about 15 minutes of good basketball.”
The teams battled to a defensive 19-19 score at the half before the Lady Tigers mounted a 10-0 run on back-to-back jumpers by Webb off turnovers. Webb had six points during the spurt, including a jumper with 11:29 remaining that made it 33-24 LSU. Meanwhile, the Wildcats went six minutes without scoring.
Northwestern clawed its way back and pulled to within one when Kendall Hackney’s bucket closed the deficit to 41-40 with 2:13 left in the game. Barrett responded with two free throws on the other end, but Allison Mocchi drew a foul and made a basket with one second on the shot clock at the 1:24 mark in the game. The Wildcats missed two ensuing breakaway lay-ups and the door remained open when Barrett missed the front in of a one-and-one with 31 seconds left.
Morgan Jones then drove the baseline and got fouled by Taylor Turnbow with 11 seconds left in the game. She made both shots to give Northwestern the lead for good, 44-43. Following an LSU timeout, Theresa Plaisance missed a three from the left wing that went out of bounds and Northwestern inbounded in the final second to escape with the victory.
“We got a good look coming off a penetration drive,” said Caldwell. “Their defense collapsed, but they stuck tight on Jeanne. I think it boils down to the plays leading up to the end of the game. It puts more pressure on the shooter at the end of the game.”
Both teams shot 30 percent from the floor and committed 23 and 22 turnovers, respectively. LSU turned in another stellar defensive performance, limiting an opponent to less than 45 points for the third time in five games.
Brittany Orban finished with a game-high 13 points for the Wildcats.
The Lady Tigers face their second straight Big 10 opponent as they travel to No. 19 Ohio State for a 4 p.m. CT tipoff on Sunday. The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. The LSU Sports Radio Network will carry it on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and in the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net/live.
LSU Head Coach Nikki Caldwell
Opening Statement …
“When you come up short, obviously you don’t look at the last possession or the one before that. You look at a combination of possessions over the course of the game. We talk about being a 40 minute team and tonight we didn’t play for 40 minutes. We probably had about 15 minutes of good basketball. This team needs to understand when you’re in a situation like that you need to make plays down the stretch.
On the game …
“I definitely respected Northwestern and what their coaching staff had done coming into tonight’s game. I expected our team to put together 40 minutes of good basketball and I felt we didn’t do that. I saw a disconnect tonight, when we were challenged. The team didn’t bond together like they needed to when that happened. We need to change that in a hurry, especially going into a hostile environment. We need to be committed to staying on the same page and being a unit no matter what the outcome.
On the last play …
“We got a good look coming off a penetration drive. Their defense collapsed, but they stuck tight on Jeanne. I think it boils down to the plays leading up to the end of the game. It puts more pressure on the shooter at the end of the game. We can’t keep playing this way. We don’t need to be a late game team. We need to learn how to maintain a lead when you have it or to keep pushing the lead. We gave up a lead and we need to learn from that area of the game. We need to put together a complete game of playing well. We had some good looks and we didn’t shoot the ball extremely well tonight. We also can’t make our offense sporadic because we’re turning the ball over.”
Sr. F LaSondra Barrett
On Northwestern’s defense in last four minutes…
“I thought we had good looks but those are shots that we have to knock down.”
On being in foul trouble the whole game throwing off her rhythm…
“It’s frustrating to be in foul trouble the whole game when you want to be out there. It has nothing to do with my rhythm. I just have to make the best out of the minutes that I’m out there on the court. When I’m in foul trouble, I’m just relying on my teammates to step up and fill that void.”
On the outlook …
“It’s all mental. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and find out what kind of team we want to be and realize what’s at stake. We’re working toward that but today was a letdown.”
So. G Jeanne Kenney
“Everybody contributed, we did a good job of running the floor. We got easy looks and we just didn’t knock them down. We just need to play together, and once we find that happy medium, we’ll be on our way.”
On Northwestern trying to slow down tempo during the game…
“Give them a lot of credit, they did what they needed to do to win.”
Northwestern Head Coach Joe McKeown
Opening statement…
“It was a hard fought game early in the year. Both teams are trying to get better and we just happen to make one more play. Morgan (Jones) stepped up and knocked down two free throws at the end of the game. She showed a lot of poise and I was really proud of her and the way our team fought back. We had gotten sloppy at the end of the first half. We couldn’t score and then LSU couldn’t score. It’s early in the season and both teams are trying to get better. I was proud of our team.”
On slowing the pace…
“I thought we had tremendous opportunities in the first half to open it up and we couldn’t. They came back and tied it by halftime. Both teams missed a lot of shots and a lot of hard nose defense. We can run but we are not going to run 40 minutes with LSU. They would have scored a lot more.”
On the play of Morgan Jones…
“Morgan is fearless and that’s how we want her to play. Just like Krystal (Forthan) for LSU, they were great high school players. We need Morgan to fight through not just nights but halves and four minute segments and keep shooting. She is really gifted and I felt good that she made some plays.”
On the big plays…
“Kendall Hackney made a huge three on the baseline from the kick out. Allison Mocchi made a big basket for us at the end of the shot-clock. Those were just huge plays for us. Even though Brittany (Orban) and Tailor (Jones) missed lay-ups, they will make those all years and have made them their whole career. When we had to get stops, our defense stepped up and got them for us.”
On the adjustments in the second half…
“We did a better job of going to the basket in the second half. They did a great job at taking charges on Karly (Roser), who is only a freshman but will be a good player for us. Her and Dannielle (Diamant) both fouled out and they are really good players for us. I like how we responded to adversity and kept attacking and trying to get to the basket.”