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Forthan Leads Lady Tigers Past Alabama St.
KRYSTAL FORTHAN’S CAREER-HIGH 17 POINTS SPARK LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TO 67-35 WIN OVER ALABAMA STATE
BATON
ROUGE - Freshman Krystal Forthan scored a career-high 17 points and the
LSU women's basketball team compiled a 20-2 run in the second half to
coast to a 67-35 win over Alabama State on Sunday in the Pete Maravich
Assembly Center.
LSU (4-3) snapped a two-game losing streak and
returned to action for the first time since Nov. 27. The Lady Tigers
were playing for the first time in 13 days after breaking for academic
finals.
Alabama State (2-3) trailed by only a 29-21 margin at
the half, but the Hornets were not able to match the depth of LSU's
bench, which outscored them 40-4 for the contest. LSU toughened up
defensively in the final 20 minutes, holding ASU to 20.0 percent
shooting in the second half and forcing 30 turnovers for the game.
"We
wanted to work and get some of our players a lot of minutes," said LSU
head coach Nikki Caldwell. "We went deep into our bench, and I thought
our bench did a really good job of coming in and giving us some life.
When we have an opportunity to give our bench some playing time, we
definitely want to do that."
Forthan was dominant in the first
half with 11 points in two minutes. The former Naismith High School
Award finalist finished 8-of-11 from the floor and had two blocks in 17
minutes. In her past two games combined, Forthan is 15-of-21 from the
floor with 32 points.
Adrienne Webb added 10 points and Jeanne
Kenney put in seven points to go along with a game-high five assists.
Bianca Lutley blocked three shots and the Lady Tigers accounted for a
season-high 12 blocks for the game. It was the first double-digit block
game for LSU since swatting 10 against Texas Southern in 2008.
Forthan
ignited the 20-2 run with a jumper at the 16:00 mark. Kenney then added
a lay-up off a steal and fed Theresa Plaisance for a wide-open look
that made it 41-27 LSU with 11:29 to go in the game. Over the next five
minutes, LSU scored 12 unanswered points culminating with Courtney
Jones' layup that increased the lead to 53-29.
The Hornets went
six minutes without a bucket before Quentori Alford broke the dry spell
with a jump shot with 5:38 remaining in the game. LSU converted 12
points off turnovers in the second half.
Both Shanece McKinney
and Theresa Plaisance contributed seven points apiece with good minutes
in the second half. LSU kept every Alabama State out of double-figures.
Keirra Paige finished with a team-high nine points.
LSU shot
49.0 percent (24-of-49) for the game and held an opponent to 40 points
or less for the third time this season. In four home games this season,
the opponent has failed to reach the 45-point mark on the Lady Tigers.
LSU
will face a quick turnaround before facing UCLA at 7 p.m. CT Tuesday.
The Bruins, Caldwell's former team, bring a 5-2 record into the contest.
The
first 1,000 fans in attendance Tuesday night will receive a free Lady
Tiger replica basketball jersey. Fans are urged to bring canned goods
to the game in support of LSU's holiday food drive in conjunction with
the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
"We played this schedule
right before we went into final exams," said Caldwell. "It's very
familiar for us. We just need to finish out better than we did in the
first half of the non-conference schedule. We've been really preparing
for any opponent that we play, because we want to stay true to LSU's
defensive system and what we want to do offensively."
"The Nikki
Caldwell Radio Show" presented by Capital One Bank will air at a
special time of 8 p.m. Monday at TJ Ribs on Acadian Thruway in Baton
Rouge. Both the game and radio show can be heard on the LSU Sports
Radio Network on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.
HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
On the game ...
"We
wanted to work and get some of our players a lot of minutes. We went
deep into our bench, and I thought our bench did a really good job of
coming in and giving us some life. When we have an opportunity to give
our bench some playing time, we definitely want to do that. We went
back to turning the ball over. I think that really killed the momentum
of our offensive execution and limited our opportunities to score the
basketball. We shot the ball well enough tonight, but we had over 20
turnovers."
On their busy schedule ...
"We played this
schedule right before we went into final exams. It's very familiar for
us. We just need to finish out better than we did in the first half of
the non-conference schedule. We've been really preparing for any
opponent that we play, because we want to stay true to LSU's defensive
system and what we want to do offensively. We may tweak some things if
someone's running overloads or ball screens, but for the most part,
it's really about who you are and what you commit to doing no matter
who the opponent is,. Our turnaround time is quick, but our game plan
has always been the same."
Guard Jeanne Kenney
On the game ...
"We
needed to do a better job of playing patiently. We have a tendency to
speed up when pressure comes at us. Sometimes we don't read the defense
well enough or we make passes we are unsure of. In the future we need
to have fewer turnovers."
On halftime adjustments ...
"We
spoke about cutting down our turnovers. Defensively, we spoke about
improving our close-outs. We worked on that all week, and in the second
half we made some important adjustments. We got a lot more offensive
rebounds in the second half. We are going in the right direction as a
team, it is a process and we will get there."
Forward Krystal Forthan
On the game ...
"I
felt very comfortable playing in front of the home fans. We want to win
all of our games before our holiday break. We just had two weeks off,
so we need to pick it up on defense and offense more in the future. We
wanted to push the tempo, and we also tried to out-rebound them."
On playing after two weeks off ...
"We
need to be able to transition between games better. The next game will
be important for us, because we know Coach Caldwell came from there, so
we need to be able to hold our ground."
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