BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s basketball team put the finishing touches on a remarkable season that included the program’s 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance as the Lady Tigers held their annual awards banquet Tuesday night at the Lod Cooke Alumni Center on campus.
LSU finished with a 19-11 overall record and a 10-4 mark in Southeastern Conference play that gave the Lady Tigers a share of second place in the final league standings. The squad reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual national title game participant Louisville.
LSU reeled off five straight wins to close the regular season and reached the semifinals of the SEC Tournament for the eighth consecutive season despite boasting five new starters and eight new faces on its roster.
Wins over ranked foes Tennessee and Florida highlighted a 10-win SEC regular season, marking the program’s seventh straight double-digit league win total. No team in the SEC has a longer streak. For its efforts, the entire Lady Tiger team was presented with the Sue Gunter Courage Award named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach.
Members of the LSU coaching staff handed out the awards Tuesday night. Allison Hightower, a WBCA State Farm All-America finalist and a first team All-SEC selection, took home three awards after turning in a junior season where she led the team in six categories, including a team-best 14.9 points per game.
Hightower earned the Kisha James Outstanding Teammate award for the second straight year while receiving the Latasha Dorsey Defensive Player award and the Joyce Walker Outstanding Perimeter Player award named for LSU’s all-time leading scorer.
Kristen Morris, LSU’s only senior, was the recipient of the Temeka Johnson Floor General award and the Arete award, presented annually to the player who demonstrates outstanding effort in the weight room.
Morris, who will graduate in May, finished her career with a 111-29 record, four NCAA Tournament appearances and three Final Fours. She averaged 9.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in the Lady Tigers’ final 14 games, including a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 14 boards versus Green Bay in the NCAA Tournament first round.
LaSondra Barrett, the 2008-09 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year, garnered the Maree Jackson Most Outstanding Post Player honor. Barrett tallied 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and ranked among the league’s best in several conference only categories.
Andrea Kelly took home the Cornelia Gayden Outstanding Attitude award and the Miriam Farr-Segar Outstanding Student-Athlete honor. Kelly was a standout in the classroom and she led the Lady Tigers in 3-point shooting. Her 40.5 percentage (34-of-84) from beyond the arc ranked as the eighth-best mark in single-season school history.
The Most Improved Student-Athlete award went to Latear Eason, who emerged as LSU’s starting point guard in the second half of the season. Katherine Graham was the recipient of the Keia Howell Most Improved Player award. Graham was terrific on both ends of the floor registering 5.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest.
Former Lady Tigers Cornelia Gayden and Keia Howell earned the Madeline Doucet-West Alumni of the Year award. Graduate assistant trainer Ashley Anderson was the recipient of the Lady Tiger Pillar of Achievement award.