BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team used a 26-6 run over the final 10 minutes to collect a convincing 64-44 victory over Vanderbilt on Thursday evening at the Maravich Center.
The Lady Tigers (8-7, 2-1 SEC) have won 13 of 17 meetings against Vanderbilt (8-7, 0-3 SEC) at home and extended the home team’s winning streak in the series to 11 consecutive games dating back to the 2004-05 season.
DaShawn Harden racked up a game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 from the floor. The senior guard has reached double figures in nine of her last 11 outings. She also chipped in three assists and two steals over her 33 minutes of action.
Raigyne Moncrief filled the box score and worked her way to 13 points, nine rebounds, six steals, five assists and two blocks. She knocked down 5-of-6 at the free throw line, and garnered all 13 of her points during the second half.
LSU’s bench play was headed by Jenna Deemer, Akilah Bethel and Stephanie Amichia. Deemer pumped in 10 points aided by a pair of three-pointers, while Bethel was a crisp 4-of-5 shooting and secured four rebounds. Amichia garnered four points and four rebounds.
Making her season debut, Danielle Ballard contributed four points, two steals and an assist in 11 minutes. The Lady Tigers also received four points and five rebounds from Sheila Boykin.
As a team, LSU turned in a 24-for-56 shooting clip and handed out 18 assists on its 24 field goals. The Lady Tigers were 4-of-13 from triple territory and an efficient 12-of-15 at the free throw line. LSU made the most of 24 Vanderbilt turnovers and cashed in with 29 of the game’s 34 points off turnovers.
“I saw us be more patient offensively. I saw us reverse the basketball more,” head coach Nikki Caldwell said. “We had four to five passes with different people touching the ball. That’s the type of team that we have to play like. We have to be a team that is unselfish. We have to be a team that doesn’t mind giving up your shot to get a better shot. When you have 18 assists on the night and have at least eight or nine people with at least one assist, that’s unselfish. That’s why we were as efficient as we were on the offensive end.”
Vanderbilt was led by Paris Kea’s 10 points and Heather Bowe’s 10 rebounds. The Commodores mustered a 16-of-46 from the floor and misfired on 13 of their 15 attempts from beyond the three-point arc. Vanderbilt produced a 10-for-18 effort at the charity stripe.
With the score all square at 38-38 with 10:01 remaining, it was Ballard who ignited LSU’s finishing kick. She stole the ball off of the press and converted the go-ahead layup courtesy of a Bethel assist.
Moncrief drove the lane for a left-handed layup on LSU’s next possession. The Lady Tigers continued their flurry with a pair of free throws from Moncrief and Harden. Then, LSU went inside to Bethel who added back-to-back layups. Harden buried a midrange jumper and a triple to cap a spurt of 17 straight points to make it 55-38 at the 3:30 mark.
LSU’s largest lead came at 64-42 inside the final minute after Amichia sank two free throws. The 20-point win for the Lady Tigers was their largest over Vanderbilt since a 75-53 decision on Jan. 26, 2006.
LSU led for a majority of the first half which featured four ties and four lead changes. Ahead 19-18 with 3:52 to go, Deemer knocked down a three-pointer off a Ballard crosscourt pass.
Following a Vanderbilt free throw, Ballard drove the lane and went up-and-under for a layup to give LSU a 24-19 edge with 2:12 left. Bethel tacked on a free throw, and Deemer dialed up another trey to enable the Lady Tigers to take a 28-23 advantaged into the locker room.
LSU extended its lead to 10 points, 38-28, six minutes into the second half. Deemer and Harden pumped in buckets 18 seconds apart to force Vanderbilt into a timeout with 14:03 remaining. Out of the timeout, the Commodores ripped off 10 consecutive points to knot the score at 38-38.
“I thought Moncrief played like a veteran tonight,” Caldwell said. “She really tried to establish her teammates, and she played under control. She played with a lot of discipline. When you look at her stat line, she took great shots for our team and not just for her. That makes a big difference. Moncrief with five assists on the night, that’s a player that is trying to give someone else a good look. Defensively, her ability to play the back of the zone and clear nine rebounds for us is huge. We are going to continue to focus on being a team that plays unselfishly.”
Up next, LSU travels to No. 9 Texas A&M for a Sunday matinee. Tipoff is slated for 12 p.m. from Reed Arena, and the game will be televised by ESPNU.
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 Women’s Basketball Postgame Quotes
Vanderbilt vs. LSU – January 8, 2015
HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
Opening statement …
“Our team played very well together. They did a nice job of supporting each other from a defensive standpoint. I thought our ability to disrupt a very good offensive team was the key for us. We were able to capitalize off of those turnovers. Offensively, for us to have 18 assists on a night, that’s a positive. That’s a team that is sharing the basketball and potentially not taking their shot and giving someone else a better look. That’s the type of basketball we wanted the team to play.”
On challenging Vanderbilt with the fullcourt press…
“I thought we did it well. It messed up their rhythm offensively by not allowing them to have the full shot clock. I knew that we had depth to do so because we’ve been playing 10 people. We need to really get back to working extremely hard. We did so on the defensive end. We were giving up the ball a lot sooner and not pounding. We were converting because people were running hard and people were trying to get layups. That’s what we were going after.”
On the return of Danielle Ballard…
“It was great having Danielle back with us. She brings a maturity to our team through her experience. Obviously, she is a player that can make plays and make other people look good. I thought she came in and played aggressively by attacking their zone. She has a strength about her with her ability to rebound and defend. It’s going to take a little time. I know the team is excited that we were not only able to get some quality minutes from her, but we got some quality minutes from our bench again. When you look at what Akilah Bethel was able to do, this was one of her nights that she finished. I thought that Jenna Deemer made some key baskets for us to stretch the game. We just have to keep having quality minutes when you come in.”
On passing successfully and getting 18 assists on 24 field goals …
“I saw us be more patient offensively. I saw us reverse the basketball more. We had four to five passes with different people touching the ball. That’s the type of team that we have to play like. We have to be a team that is unselfish. We have to be a team that doesn’t mind giving up your shot to get a better shot. When you have 18 assists on the night and have at least eight or nine people with at least one assist, that’s unselfish. That’s why we were as efficient as we were on the offensive end.”
On Raigyne Moncrief…
“I thought Moncrief played like a veteran tonight. She really tried to establish her teammates, and she played under control. She played with a lot of discipline. When you look at her stat line, she took great shots for our team and not just for her. That makes a big difference. Moncrief with five assists on the night, that’s a player that is trying to give someone else a good look. Defensively, her ability to play the back of the zone and clear nine rebounds for us is huge. We are going to continue to focus on being a team that plays unselfishly.”
GUARD RAIGYNE MONCRIEF
On the up-tempo pace of tonight’s game…
“That’s the type of game Coach Caldwell wanted. We wanted to force steals , put pressure on their guards and make things happen.”
On tonight’s success in the transition…
“We are a transition team so that is what where we get our points. We capitalized on the steals and the fastbreak chances. We tried to play smart off of that and not take any bad shots.”
On Danielle Ballard‘s return tonight…
“It was beautiful. I think she is the one who brought us energy and hype coming into the game with the little things she does like push tempo. I was glad to have her back even if she didn’t do as much. I know when the time comes she is going to explode and get back to being Danielle Ballard. She did well today.”
GUARD DASHAWN HARDEN
On the up-tempo pace of tonight’s game…
“Whatever works and whatever is going to help us win is what I like.”
On Danielle Ballard‘s return tonight…
“We have been on a little losing streak and not winning games we should win. It felt like we didn’t have our whole team. Having her back is the little piece of the puzzle we need to get going. It felt good to have her back.”
VANDERBILT COACH MELANIE BALCOMB
Opening statement …
“I think we made a run to catch up. Then, we fell apart under their pressure. Once they saw blood, they attacked us the rest of the game. We could not get it back.”
On the LSU press defense…
“(DaShawn) Harden and (Raigyne) Moncrief played great. They played a lot of minutes with a lot of energy, and they were very aggressive. They created havoc by going so hard and creating. Once the game was tied, they really turned it up defensively especially those two players. They got so many points off that defense.”
On the Vanderbilt mindset moving forward…
“We have to figure out how to be a team. We are very young. We have had eight or nine different starting lineups. We are going to try to get everybody on the same page. That is what we are trying to do is become a team. We have a lot of talent, but we are not a team yet. We need to continue to work on being together, learn how to be cohesive and find players that can work with each other.”