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NO. 20 LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS TO NORTHWESTERN, 44-43
BATON
ROUGE – Morgan Jones converted two free throws with 11.8 seconds left
and the 20th-ranked LSU women’s basketball team saw a nine-point
second-half lead slip away in a 44-43 loss to Northwestern on Tuesday
night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers
(3-2) dropped their second straight game to the Wildcats after falling
in the season-opener last season in Evanston. Northwestern (4-0), in
its first trip to Baton Rouge, overcame a 33-24 deficit at the 11:29
mark in the second half to record the come-from-behind victory.
LaSondra
Barrett led LSU with 11 points – her fifth straight double-figure
scoring game – while grabbing five rebounds. Jeanne Kenney dished out a
career-best seven assists. Adrienne Webb chipped in eight points and
six rebounds in the loss.
“When you come up short, obviously
you don’t look at the last possession or the one before that,” said LSU
head coach Nikki Caldwell. “You look at a combination of possessions
over the course of the game. We talk about being a 40-minute team and
tonight we didn’t play for 40 minutes. We probably had about 15 minutes
of good basketball.”
The teams battled to a defensive 19-19
score at the half before the Lady Tigers mounted a 10-0 run on
back-to-back jumpers by Webb off turnovers. Webb had six points during
the spurt, including a jumper with 11:29 remaining that made it 33-24
LSU. Meanwhile, the Wildcats went six minutes without scoring.
Northwestern
clawed its way back and pulled to within one when Kendall Hackney’s
bucket closed the deficit to 41-40 with 2:13 left in the game. Barrett
responded with two free throws on the other end, but Allison Mocchi
drew a foul and made a basket with one second on the shot clock at the
1:24 mark in the game. The Wildcats missed two ensuing breakaway
lay-ups and the door remained open when Barrett missed the front in of
a one-and-one with 31 seconds left.
Morgan Jones then drove
the baseline and got fouled by Taylor Turnbow with 11 seconds left in
the game. She made both shots to give Northwestern the lead for good,
44-43. Following an LSU timeout, Theresa Plaisance missed a three from
the left wing that went out of bounds and Northwestern inbounded in the
final second to escape with the victory.
“We got a good look
coming off a penetration drive,” said Caldwell. “Their defense
collapsed, but they stuck tight on Jeanne. I think it boils down to the
plays leading up to the end of the game. It puts more pressure on the
shooter at the end of the game.”
Both teams shot 30 percent from
the floor and committed 23 and 22 turnovers, respectively. LSU turned
in another stellar defensive performance, limiting an opponent to less
than 45 points for the third time in five games.
Brittany Orban finished with a game-high 13 points for the Wildcats.
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