BATON ROUGE – LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell put the finishing touches on her successful first season as her staff honored the 2011-12 Lady Tigers at a postseason banquet on Sunday night in the Stadium Club of Tiger Stadium.
Under Caldwell’s leadership, LSU overcame adversity to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game for the first time since 2008 and the Lady Tigers made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament second round. Despite losing senior point guard Destini Hughes to a season-ending knee injury midway through the SEC season, LSU posted its highest win total since the 2008 Final Four season with 23 victories.
“Our team took on the attitude of it’s not an option since day one,” said Caldwell. “When you reflect back on our season, even when things were rough, we couldn’t have done it without the support of our great fans. Our team started to believe in that slogan and that’s the attitude we are going to take into the summer. We are going to be back.”
Hughes received two standing ovations on Sunday night, including one when she was the recipient of the team’s inaugural “Inspiration Award.” Hughes was playing the best basketball of her career prior to her knee injury at Tennessee on Jan. 19. Even after the setback, Hughes remained a vital part of the team through her leadership in practice, in the locker room or on the bench at games.
“Everyone took on a role at some point during the year,” said Caldwell. “They may have not always been happy with it, but they played it because they were team players. We had five unbelievable seniors and they all represented something different. Destini was our spirit. The way she treats people is in a giving manner.”
Adrienne Webb, who led the team in field goals and ranked second on the squad in scoring, took home the “Ironwoman Award.” The award symbolizes hard work, dedication and durability from workouts to practice and the games. Webb will return for her senior season in 2012-13 after putting up 9.9 points per game as a junior.
LaSondra Barrett received the team’s “Lady Tiger Award” for her outstanding leadership throughout the season on the floor and in the classroom. Barrett was a first-team All-SEC selection and an honorable Mention All-American after leading LSU in scoring (12.8 ppg), rebounding (7.1 rpg), three-point shooting (24-of-62) and total assists (7.1). She shattered the LSU career free throw record in her final season and finished with 497 makes.
Barrett was unable to attend the banquet because she was in Bristol, Conn., for the WNBA Draft. Fellow Mississippi native Swayze Black accepted the award in her honor. Barrett was selected in the first round of the WNBA Draft on Monday as the 10th overall pick by the Washington Mystics.
All five seniors – Barrett, Black, Hughes, Taylor Turnbow and Courtney Jones – were recognized for their accomplishments during their careers. With their leadership, LSU twice knocked off SEC champion Kentucky and rode a six-game winning streak late in the season to finish fourth in the league standings.
Caldwell reflected back to her hiring day last April. She met with the team about making the program a family environment and how it would help them succeed.
“I remember meeting with the team on April 4 after our press conference,” she said. “The first thing I talked to them about was family. We had our ups and downs when Destini went down or Jeanne (Kenney) went down, but this team found a way to win because we are a family.
“You win at 6 a.m. Those workouts are what got us through that stretch when we went 0-5. We didn’t come up with the wins, but we were building our character to get those wins. Whenever there is a setback, there is always a comeback and this team came back with reckless abandonment.”