BATON ROUGE, La.—It was a defensive battle at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday afternoon, but the LSU women’s basketball team missed the chance against No. 4 South Carolina Gamecock, 69-65.
Tigers are now 6-7 in the season and 4-3 in the SEC, while Gamecocks improve their overall record to 12-1 and 7-0 in the SEC.
At the start of the game, both teams fought offensively, but the defensive effort on both sides was equally impressive. The score at the end of the first half was 25-23 in favor of LSU after senior Karli Seay received a steal and an easy tray on the other side when the clock struck zero.
The tandem of senior Khayla Pointer and Tiara Young of the second year had a strong exit in the backcourt. Pointer finished with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Young had 16 points, six rebounds and an assist.
Senior Awa Trasi came to the front line, where she thrives and managed nine points and four rebounds.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN
- Both teams fought offensive early in the game, making separate moves in the early parts of the game. South Carolina led the way in the first quarter, 10-8.
- LSU closed the gap, overcoming Gamecocks 4-3 in the last half of the first quarter. South Carolina led 13 to 12 after a quarter.
- LSU started the second quarter with a 5-0 run, completing a 7-2 run that started in the first quarter. The Tigers led 17-15 with 5:00 remaining for the break.
- LSU was able to continue its scoring run, finishing with 13 points in the quarter. LSU led the Gamecocks 25-23 at halftime.
- LSU maintained the lead during the third quarter’s media timeout at 33-32 after a series of comings and goings.
- The Tigers led 45-43 at the end of the third period, after the two teams began to show more kicking pace from the ground.
- South Carolina used a 9-2 run in the opening minutes of the fourth period to gain a five-point lead with 7:37 to go. The Gamecocks led 52-47. The Tigers used a 6-2 run to reduce the deficit to two. With 4:41 left, South Carolina led 54-53.
- The Gamecocks overcame the Tigers 16-12 in the final stretch to obtain a 69-65 victory in the PMAC.
Nikki Fargas’ Postgame Quotes
What LSU fought about during the game …
“I think when you’re not putting the ball in the hole, and I said that to them, ‘If we’re not in the offensive glass and we’re not back in the transition, then where are you?’ There was a lot of spectators, a lot of looking and not running and going back. They were obviously very adamant about pushing the pace. The layups came from them being able to hit it and kick it forward. Whenever you are playing against a team that is doing this, you have to have everyone committed to coming back and I don’t feel like we had that commitment ”.
At LSU missing easy shots …
“I think that in the second half, when you look at us, we are kind of a second-half team too. However, they made the moves they needed to make the stretch. I thought we had a lot of looks on the rim. We missed many points that we could have scored in the painting. We didn’t have a horrible filming night, but I thought we could have shot better for the game. You need to make sure that when you’re playing against a team like South Carolina, you make those easy shots and we didn’t do that tonight.
At LSU, not being able to dictate the pace of the game …
“When you talk about the pace and pace of the game, I think the only thing our kids like is when we can play. There were many stoppages and scheduled absences, more than we would like. I think that changed the dynamics of the game. I like it when our kids are able to play and do some things and when the pace of the game is consistent. I don’t think that was the case tonight. “
The Tigers will hit the road to face Georgia on Thursday at the Stegeman Coliseum. The match will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus at 6 pm CT. As always, you can listen to Voice of the Tigers, Patrick Wright, broadcasting on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.