LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Raigyne Moncrief and DaShawn Harden combined for 39 points on a 15-for-30 shooting effort, but the LSU women’s basketball team was defeated by top-seed and No. 3 South Carolina by a 74-54 margin at Verizon Arena on Saturday afternoon during the semifinal round of the SEC Tournament.
LSU (17-13) will await an at-large bid during next week’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show which will be held on Monday, March 16 at 6 p.m. televised by ESPN. South Carolina (29-2) advances to Sunday’s championship game.
“I thought our team played extremely hard,” head coach Nikki Caldwell said. “We fought until the end. Our game plan in the first half was very efficient and disruptive. In the second half, we got away from being that aggressive team with our defensive play. South Carolina being one of the best teams in the country took advantage of that, a lot of credit to South Carolina and their team. It was a well fought game for about 30 minutes. This team, my young team, they’ve got to learn and grow from this. They have to understand that you have to play with that same intensity for 40 minutes.”
For Moncrief, she racked up 13 of her team-leading 20 points during the second half. The 20 points was the second-highest scoring output for Moncrief against a SEC opponent. She has reached double figures in 12 of her last 14 appearances.
Harden exploded for 17 of her 19 points sparked by a career-high tying five three-pointers in the first half. She has ripped off double figures in three straight games since returning to the starting lineup.
Danielle Ballard came away with eight points, five assists and four rebounds. She had her streak of 13 consecutive games in double figures came to a close. On the interior, Sheila Boykin chipped in two points, six rebounds and a pair of assists. Akilah Bethel added two points and two assists.
As a team, LSU was 20-of-52 from the floor. The Lady Tigers were limited to a 5-for-22 shooting clip outside of Harden and Moncrief. LSU buried six of its 12 three-point attempts and produced an 8-for-14 effort at the free throw line.
South Carolina’s bench play led the way and amassed 46 of the game’s 51 bench points. Alaina Coates garnered 16 points and eight rebounds followed by Tina Roy’s 15 points fueled by five three-pointers. Aleighsa Welch picked up 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Gamecocks.
LSU limited A’Ja Wilson, the SEC’s Freshman of the Year, to seven points and four rebounds. The Lady Tigers also held Tiffany Mitchell, the SEC’s Player of the Year, to a season’s low four points and forced her into five turnovers.
Harden sank a trio of three-pointers from both wings and the top of the key during the first three minutes of the contest as LSU fired out to a 10-3 lead at the 16:23 mark.
After the Gamecocks responded with a 7-0 flurry, LSU charged back with 14 of the next 17 points over the next 6:45 off the clock.
The Lady Tigers turned back to Harden who dialed up another three-ball from the left baseline. She got the friendly bounce on a deep two-pointer with the shot clock expiring, and Moncrief drove in for a layup as the LSU regained a 17-10 edge with 13:06 left.
Moncrief got loose for another layup courtesy of a Boykin bounce pass, while Ballard knocked down a midrange jumper off a Bethel screen. Then, Ballard split a pair of free throws. Bethel found Boykin for a layup off a nice drive-and-dish to give LSU its largest lead at 24-13 with 8:13 remaining.
South Carolina scored the closing four points of the half to trim the LSU advantage to 31-27 at halftime. The Lady Tigers dished out eight assists on their 10 field goals in the first 20 minutes.
The Gamecocks found their rhythm out of the locker room and pumped in 33 of the first 45 points over the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
Roy canned a quartet of three-pointers and her final triple gave South Carolina a 60-43 lead with 5:45 remaining. Coates and Welch also combined to provide 13 points for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina connected on its final 10 shot attempts and was an efficient 18-for-23 from the floor during the second half to secure the 20-point win.
“You’ve got to make sure that your intensity level and your level of effort is there for 40 minutes because South Carolina can bring waves and waves of people in,” Caldwell said. “You can’t take a possession off against a team like South Carolina. They’re going to have the size inside, and they brought their shooters. They have a very balanced attack. We didn’t stretch our bench as much as I would like to, but I felt as though the players that did play – they exhausted everything that they had.”
LSU turns its attention to the selection Monday on March 16 where the NCAA will announce its Field of 64. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show airs at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
The LSU Sports Radio Network will carry all NCAA Tournament games on its flagship station Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge. The radio 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.