WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Ke-Ke Tardy made 8-of-9 shots from the field and scored a career best 21 points to lead the LSU women’s basketball team to a 58.2-percent shooting performance and a 83-66 victory over the No. 11-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils here in Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The Lady Tigers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and will face the Purdue-UCSB winner at 8 p.m. CT on Sunday.
LSU (20-10) survived a 51-percent shooting performance by Arizona State and a career-high 25 points by 6-2 center Melody Johnson to advance and pick up its 20th victory for the fourth time in five seasons. Last season, the Lady Tigers advanced to the NCAA Elite 8 before falling to eventual National Champion UConn.
The Sun Devils were decimated by 18 turnovers and were out-rebounded by the smaller Lady Tigers, 28-21.
Arizona State’s season ended with a 20-11 overall record.
The Lady Tigers were 32 of 55 from the field, including a stellar 64.3 percent (18 of 28) in the first half. Arizona State never got into its offensive rhythm again the pressure defense of a much quicker Lady Tiger team. Leading scorer Amanda Levens, who entered the game shooting 41 percent from beyond the three-point line, was held to 11 points and only 1-of-5 from three-points range.
Senior All-American Marie Ferdinand missed her season average by one point, but dumped in 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Kisha James came off the bench to score 13 clutch points for LSU. She shot 5-of-9 from the field and had three steals. April Brown and DeTrina White added a solid 10 points. But, it was Tardy who stole the show and led LSU deeper into the field of 64.
LSU used several runs in the first half to frustrate the bigger, yet slower Pac-10 champion Arizona State team. The Lady Tigers were deadly from the field, converting in all facets of the offensive side of the ball.
After falling behind 6-2 early, the Lady Tigers went on a 9-0 run capped off by a Brown three-pointer leading into the first media timeout at the 15:40 mark. Seven of LSU’s first 11 points came off turnovers.
LSU increased the lead to seven, 13-6, on a jumper by Tardy in the lane, however, Arizona State responded with an 8-0 run of its own to take a 14-13 lead with 12:41 remaining in the half.
The Lady Tigers continued to use their athleticism against the slower Sun Devil squad, scoring baskets on put-backs, three-pointers and cuts through the lane to go on another 17-5 run and take a 30-19 lead with 7:13 remaining in the half. Tardy finished the run with her 10th point on a jumper just outside the lane.
Arizona continued to rely on the play of 6-2 center Melody Johnson underneath the basket to stay even with the Lady Tigers and cut the lead to 37-30 with a free throw at the 3:12 mark. The Lady Tigers scored six points in a row to expand the lead to its largest of the half, 43-30, with 2:06 left in the half.
LSU led 43-32 at the half.
The Lady Tigers didn’t let up their intensity to start the second half, responding to a series of baskets by the Sun Devils which cut the lead to eight, 50-42, with a 11-2 run. Tardy again capped the run by scoring the final four points and remained a perfect 6-of-6 from the field to give LSU a 61-44 lead.
After a pair of free throws, ASU was able to cut into the LSU lead with just under four minutes to play, 73-61, but a turnover turned into a pair of LSU free throws and gave the Lady Tigers the lead for good.