BATON ROUGE – A 26-0 run midway through the first half proved to be the spark needed for the LSU women’s basketball team as the Lady Tigers dominated Lamar and won its fourth consecutive game by a score of 77-35 on Sunday afternoon in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Every LSU player accounted for a field goal led by a game-high 15 points from Adrienne Webb, who finished 3-of-7 from three-point range. Junior guard Bianca Lutley came off the bench for a season-high 11 points and a career-best seven rebounds and seven assists. LaSondra Barrett added nine points and six assists on 4-of-5 shooting. Barrett moved into 18th place in LSU career scoring with 1,235 points.
“The lineup we had out there played very aggressively and they played like a unit,” said LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell. “Bianca Lutley played really well in that stretch. She’s a player who calms us but she also distributes the basketball very well and she did that for us today. I also look at LaSondra Barrett‘s play where she had six assists. She got her teammates involved and to me that is a great attribute for a player to have.”
Four Lady Tigers registered at least three assists as LSU (7-3) finished with a season-best 27 assists and 33 field goals. The 27 assists were the most in a game by the Lady Tigers since producing 27 against Centenary on Nov. 15, 2009. Offensively, LSU shot 55 percent from the floor, its fourth straight game of 49 percent or better. The Lady Tigers buried a season-high 9-of-20 from three-point land.
“We took a lot of shots from three today but they all seemed to come off good passes,” said Caldwell. “There was a lot of unselfish play. When you start shooting well, it can be contagious. When you’re shooting 45 percent from behind the three-point line that is a great percentage.”
LSU came into Sunday’s game boasting the Southeastern Conference’s top field goal percentage defense and one of the top 10 scoring defenses nationally. Lamar became the latest victim of the Lady Tigers’ pressure defense, finishing at 25.6 percent for the game and committing 30 turnovers that led to 31 LSU points.
The Lady Cardinals (5-6) dropped their fourth consecutive contest and fell to 11-4 all-time against LSU. Lamar was making its first appearance in Baton Rouge since 1997. LSU also won its 11th consecutive game in the month of December dating back to 2009.
The Lady Cardinals held a 14-13 lead following Shauna Long’s three at the 10:03 point in the first half. It would be Lamar’s final field goal of the half as LSU took complete control of the game with a 24-0 spurt in the final nine minutes. Swayze Black ignited the run with a pair of steals. The Lady Tigers scored seven points in a span of 30 seconds when Barrett fired in a three and Webb converted two jumpers in transition off turnovers.
Lutley buried a three of her own and Taylor Turnbow and Courtney Jones provided a pair of paint buckets. Sheila Boykin‘s layup with 33 seconds culminated a dominant first half that saw LSU carry a 37-14 lead into the locker room. Jones accounted for the final field goal of the 26-0 run to start the second half.
The Lady Tigers connected for six threes in the second half as Webb, Krystal Forthan, Theresa Plaisance, Lutley and Barrett each made at least one. Shanece McKinney and Forthan accounted for the final margin with a pair of layups.
Kalis Loyd led Lamar in scoring with 10 points, six points below her season average.
LSU hosts Grambling at a special noon tipoff time on Thursday. The contest was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. but was moved up to a noon start. It can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.
LSU HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
On the 26-0 run …
“The lineup we had out there played very aggressively and they played like a unit. Bianca Lutley played really well in that stretch. She’s a player who calms us but she also distributes the basketball very well and she did that for us today. I also look at LaSondra Barrett‘s play where she had six assists. She got her teammates involved and to me that is a great attribute for a player to have. I thought Barrett really responded to my challenge to be a great leader today.”
On Swayze Black‘s play …
“It all started with Swayze Black. I thought her initial presence with the basketball really fueled our team to pick up their defensive intensity, and that led to some turnovers for us. My initial challenge was for her to give us energy and I thought Swayze did that for us.”
On the team’s three-point shooting …
“We took a lot of shots from three today but they all seemed to come off good passes. There was a lot of unselfish play. When you start shooting well, it can be contagious. When you’re shooting 45 percent from behind the three-point line that is a great percentage.”
On the ball movement …
“When we take care of the basketball we are pretty efficient. When we make air passes or try to force things that are not there we get out of rhythm. We need to make each possession a valuable one. Sometimes turning the ball over can be contagious just like making threes can be.”
On the defensive performance …
“It was a good collective team effort defensively. I liked our intensity and I thought our group played very hard tonight, that is what defense is about.”
On preparing for the next game …
“We’re about to finish up December with two more non-conference games. The past four games have been a good run, but we still have more work to do.”