HARTFORD, Conn. — Even without leading scorer and rebounder Breanna Stewart, top-ranked UConn was too much for the Lady Tigers as LSU fell, 86-40, to the Huskies Monday evening at the XL Center.
LSU evened their record to 6-6 with the loss while UConn improved to 9-0 on the year. Stewart did not dress out for the game because of an ankle injury. She was leading the Huskies with 22.9 points and 8.1 rebounds a game.
Junior Alexis Hyder led LSU with 12 rebounds, eight of which were defensive boards. It was Hyder’s fourth game with 10 or more rebounds, and the sixth time this season that she has led LSU in rebounding. Hyder also scored nine points off a 3-of-8 effort from the field and a 2-of-2 mark from the free-throw line. The Lady Tigers hit all seven of their free-throw attempts in tonight’s game. Jenna Deemer and Shanice Norton also hit a pair of free-throw shots while Ann Jones hit her only attempt.
Junior Rina Hill led LSU in scoring with 10 points. She also scored 10 points on Saturday in the loss at Rutgers. Hill has scored in double figures in five games this season. Hill was 5-of-9 from the field and also registered two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Akilah Bethel posted six points and six rebounds, while Norton chipped in six points.
LSU turned the ball over 28 times, and UConn took advantage of those miscues, scoring 35 points. The Huskies also had 24 fastbreak points and 42 points in the paint. LSU scored just six points off nine UConn turnovers. UConn held the narrow 40-35 advantage on the boards. The Huskies shot 46.3 percent (31-67) from the field for the first game this season they were held below 50 percent from the field. The Lady Tigers were held to 29.6 percent (16-54) shooting from the field.
“One of the things we talked about as a key to this game was time of possession,” said head coach Nikki Fargas. “I felt UConn sped us up tonight. We went into this game wanting to slow things down, getting the play action that we wanted and then going ahead and running our action. We were playing way too fast, which led to us turning the ball over too much in this game.”
Four of UConn’s five starters scored in double digits, led by Moriah Jefferson’s 17 points. Morgan Tuck and Katie Lou Samuelson each added 14 points, while Kia Nurse scored 11 points. Gabby Williams came in off the bench and also scored in double figures with 13 points. Napheesa Collier led the Huskies in rebounding with 12 boards, and also posted six blocked shots in the game.
The Lady Tigers were held to just 14 points in the first half off a 7-of-27 shooting effort from the field. It was the lowest scoring output for LSU in a half this season. The previous low was 16 against Maine in the final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase. UConn used an 11-0 run to pull away and take a 39-14 lead into the locker room at the half. LSU did not shoot a single free throw in the first half and the Huskies were 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. Hill led LSU’s efforts in the first half with six points.
The Lady Tigers have a brief break for the holidays before closing out their non-conference schedule on Monday, Dec. 28, against Samford. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. against the Bulldogs.