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26-0 RUN CRIPPLES LAMAR, CARRIES LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TO FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN, 77-35
BATON
ROUGE – A 26-0 run beginning midway through the first half proved to be
the spark needed for the LSU women’s basketball team as the Lady Tigers
dominated Lamar and won its fourth consecutive game by a score of 77-35
on Sunday afternoon in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Every
LSU player accounted for a field goal led by a game-high 15 points from
Adrienne Webb, who finished 3-of-7 from three-point range. Junior guard
Bianca Lutley came off the bench for a season-high 11 points and a
career-best seven rebounds and seven assists. LaSondra Barrett added
nine points and six assists on 4-of-5 shooting. Barrett moved into 18th
place in LSU career scoring with 1,235 points.
“The lineup we
had out there played very aggressively and they played like a unit,”
said LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell. “Bianca Lutley played really well
in that stretch. She’s a player who calms us but she also distributes
the basketball very well and she did that for us today. I also look at
LaSondra Barrett’s play where she had six assists. She got her
teammates involved and to me that is a great attribute for a player to
have.”
Four Lady Tigers registered at least three assists as LSU
(7-3) finished with a season-best 27 assists and 33 field goals. The 27
assists were the most in a game by the Lady Tigers since producing 27
against Centenary on Nov. 15, 2009. Offensively, LSU shot 55 percent
from the floor, its fourth straight game of 49 percent or better. The
Lady Tigers buried a season-high 9-of-20 from three-point land.
“We
took a lot of shots from three today but they all seemed to come off
good passes,” said Caldwell. “There was a lot of unselfish play. When
you start shooting well, it can be contagious. When you’re shooting 45
percent from behind the three-point line that is a great percentage.”
LSU
came into Sunday’s game boasting the Southeastern Conference’s top
field goal percentage defense and one of the top 10 scoring defenses
nationally. Lamar became the latest victim of the Lady Tigers’ pressure
defense, finishing at 25.6 percent for the game and committing 30
turnovers that led to 31 LSU points.
The Lady Cardinals (5-6)
dropped their fourth consecutive contest and fell to 11-4 all-time
against LSU. Lamar was making its first appearance in Baton Rouge since
1997. LSU also won its 11th consecutive game in the month of December
dating back to 2009.
The Lady Cardinals held a 14-13 lead
following Shauna Long’s three at the 10:03 point in the first half. It
would be Lamar’s final field goal of the half as LSU took complete
control of the game with a 24-0 spurt in the final nine minutes. Swayze
Black ignited the run with a pair of steals. The Lady Tigers scored
seven points in a span of 30 seconds when Barrett fired in a three and
Webb converted two jumpers in transition off turnovers.
Lutley
buried a three of her own and Taylor Turnbow and Courtney Jones
provided a pair of paint buckets. Sheila Boykin’s layup with 33 seconds
culminated a dominant first half that saw LSU carry a 37-14 lead into
the locker room. Jones accounted for the final field goal of the 26-0
run to start the second half.
The Lady Tigers connected for
six threes in the second half as Webb, Krystal Forthan, Theresa
Plaisance, Lutley and Barrett each made at least one. Shanece McKinney
and Forthan accounted for the final margin with a pair of layups.
Kalis Loyd led Lamar in scoring with 10 points, six points below her season average.
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