GAINESVILLE, Fla. – DaShawn Harden poured in 20 of her career-high 23 points during the second half as the LSU women’s basketball team overcame a 15-point first half deficit to secure a 68-65 comeback victory over Florida in Friday’s SEC opener for both teams at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
LSU (7-6, 1-0 SEC) has won all four of its SEC openers under head coach Nikki Caldwell with three of the four victories coming on the road. The Lady Tigers have posted a 16-5 mark versus Florida (8-6, 0-1 SEC) dating back to the 1997-98 season.
For Harden, she was 7-of-13 from the floor and connected on a trio of three-pointers. The Kansas native also was clutch down the stretch and buried 5-of-6 at the free throw line inside the final 77 seconds to seal the win. Harden’s 23 points also was a season-high for a LSU player this season.
Anne Pedersen provided a career-high 14 points on a flawless 6-for-6 shooting effort and added four rebounds. Raigyne Moncrief turned in a solid all-around effort with eight points, six assists and five rebounds.
LSU’s post game was led by Sheila Boykin’s seven points and Stephanie Amichia’s seven rebounds. The seven rebounds for Amichia matched a career-high.
Florida was fueled by Kayla Lewis’ 17 points and eight rebounds. Ronni Williams tacked on 14 points and five rebounds, while Carlie Needles came away with 10 points and three assists for the Gators.
“Defensively, I thought we did a nice job especially in the late game situations,” Caldwell said. “We were able to come up with the defensive stops when we needed the most. A lot of credit goes to Florida because I thought they did a nice job of pursuing the basketball and getting on the defensive glass. We held tough. We’re still a team that is trying to find our identity, and I thought we gave a much better defensive effort.”
Trailing 43-39 at the 14:01 mark of the second half, LSU began its surge with seven consecutive points over the next 1:40 off the clock. Harden kickstarted the flurry with a midrange jumper followed by a Deemer triple on the left wing courtesy of a Harden assist. Boykin added a second-chance layup to give LSU a 46-43 edge with 12:21 remaining.
The Lady Tigers once turned to Harden again who buried a pair of three-pointers 31 seconds apart. Both of Harden’s trifectas were set up by Moncrief assists as LSU turned a one-point deficit into a 53-48 advantage with 8:41 to go.
After Florida got back within three points, the Lady Tigers received another Boykin layup and a Pedersen midrange jumper from the right baseline to take their largest lead at 59-52 with 4:04 left. Once again, it was Moncrief who delivered the timely assists.
LSU sank 7-of-8 at the free throw line during the final 95 seconds led by Harden’s 5-for-6 effort. The Gators had a chance to send the game to overtime, but LSU used strong perimeter defense to guard the three-point line which forced Florida to misfire on a two-point attempt in the closing seconds.
“I thought DaShawn did a really nice job of being that player to get open once they started to foul us down the stretch,” Caldwell said. “We wanted the ball in her hands, and she didn’t shy away from it. Give credit to her for going to the free throw line and knocking down shots in a pressure situation.”
Florida scored the game’s opening 14 points and grabbed a 24-9 lead with 7:39 remaining after a Lewis layup. The Gators hits 10 of their first 17 shots in the contest.
LSU worked its way back into the game behind a 21-6 spurt to close the half. Pedersen ignited the charge and dialed up a three-pointer. She also contributed a midrange jumper and layup during the run. The Lady Tigers took their first lead at 28-26 after a traditional three-point play from Harden. A Moncrief layup knotted the score at 30-30 going into halftime.
As a team, LSU produced a 24-for-51 shooting performance. The Lady Tigers secured a 39-34 rebounding edge, a 17-10 advantage in second chance points and scored 26 of the game’s 43 bench points. LSU also was an efficient 5-of-10 from three-point territory and was 15-for-21 at the charity stripe.
Florida countered with a 22-of-56 effort from the floor. The Gators misfired on 18 of their 22 attempts from beyond the three-point arc and were 17-of-27 at the free throw line.
LSU will face a quick turnaround and returns to action Sunday to square off with top-ranked South Carolina. Tipoff for the program’s annual “Gold Game” is set for 2 p.m. from the Maravich Center. Fans can receive free admission courtesy of the Advocate by printing this voucher for redemption at the Maravich Center Box Office which opens at 12:30 p.m. on gameday.
The LSU Sports Radio Network will broadcast the game on its flagship station Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge. The broadcast featuring Patrick Wright, the voice of the Lady Tigers, also will be available for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live.
For all of the latest news and information on Lady Tiger basketball, visit www.LSUsports.net/womensbasketball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/LSUwbkb, @lsuwbkb and @NikkiCaldwell on Twitter, @LSUwbkb and @LSUNikkiCaldwell on Instagram.
LSU Head Coach Nikki Caldwell
Opening Statement:
“This was a big win for us tonight because Florida is a very well-coached basketball team. They have unbelievable guard play and a balanced attack. We felt that this game would be won by whichever team executed not only offensively, but the team that would get those stops we needed, which I felt was the difference for us down the stretch. We were able to get defensive stops that we needed. I can’t be more proud of this team for fighting back in the first half to tie the game, but we also have been plagued by that. We did a much better job in the second half.”
LSU Senior Guard DaShawn Harden
On LSU’s improved defense:
“This past couple of days, we have been working a lot on help defense. As a team, I think we made sure we were in the help line. I think seeing that second line of defense made [Florida] second guess driving.”
On what the team talked about at halftime after overcoming a 14-point deficit and tying the game entering the second:
“We have been in the situation where we get right there, tie the game and then just let the game go away. We have really talked a lot about taking it to the next level. We don’t want to repeat the same things over and over again; that is what we talked about at halftime.”