Lady Tigers cruise past Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell made her return to the Southeastern Conference a successful one and senior forward LaSondra Barrett continued her dominance of Ole Miss with her 13th career double-double.
Caldwell and the Lady Tigers rang in 2012 with their seventh straight victory, using a 24-2 run to close the first half and cruise past Ole Miss, 83-44, in the SEC opener for both teams on New Year’s Day in Tad Smith Coliseum.
Barrett scored 13 points and pulled down 13 rebounds — 11 in the first half and one shy of a career-high — to go along with a career-best three blocks. In six career games against the Rebels, the Jackson, Miss., native finished with 112 points and 47 rebounds.
Every Lady Tiger player scored a point and LSU (10-3, 1-0 SEC) finished with an efficient 37 made field goals on 26 assists. Sophomore guard Jeanne Kenney added 10 points and dished out a career-high-tying seven assists. Senior guard Destini Hughes scored a season-high 13 points with four assists and three steals. Freshman Krystal Forthan chipped in nine points and had two blocks.
“I liked that we played more off the dribble drive today,” Caldwell said. “Destini Hughes really set the tone for us in being aggressive off the dribble. Obviously, LaSondra Barrett gets 13 boards and was really that presence for us on the offensive end.”
Ole Miss (10-4, 0-1 SEC) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end and lost for the third straight time to LSU. The Rebels have been outscored 237-125 in their last three meetings with the Lady Tigers. Nikki Byrd led Ole Miss with 14 points.
With LSU trailing 18-16 at the 11:23 mark in the first half, the Lady Tigers put together a back-breaking 17-0 run to take control of the game. In its most efficient offensive display of the season, LSU got contributions from every player.
Hughes tied the game with a jumper, and three minutes later, Courtney Jones’ 3-pointer from the top of the key gave LSU a 27-18 lead.
Adrienne Webb scored in the lane and Jones converted a turnaround jumper that culminated the 17-0 run at the 3:44 mark. LSU led 33-18 before Kenyotta Jenkins ended the scoring dry spell with a free throw. The Rebels, however, went the final 11:22 of the first half without a field goal thanks to a suffocating Lady Tiger defense. Barrett grabbed 10 rebounds during the 11-minute span.
“This game is about runs, and we have to generate that through our defense and board play because we have to control the tempo of the game,” said Caldwell. “Once we did that, I thought we played a lot better in establishing our inside play. We are going to continue to look to push tempo because we have a lot of people that we can play. Our bench gave us some quality minutes today.”
LSU built on its 40-20 halftime advantage as Hughes and Kenney converted three-point plays. Forthan nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing that pushed the advantage to 30, 64-34, with 9:08 remaining in the contest.
Shanece McKinney and Sheila Boykin scored in the final five minutes. Barrett put the finishing touches on her monster day with a 3-pointer at the 1:35 mark.
LSU finished the game at 55.2 percent shooting from the floor and held the Rebels to 24.6 percent. The Lady Tigers out-rebounded their eighth straight opponent and the 83 total points were the most by LSU in an SEC (non-overtime game) since putting up 83 against Arkansas on Feb. 28, 2008.
The seven-game win streak is the longest by the Lady Tigers since winning the first nine games of 2009. Sunday’s 39-point margin of victory was LSU’s largest in SEC play since defeating Florida, 70-30, on Feb. 11, 2010.
LSU concludes its three-game road trip at Mississippi State at 7 p.m. Thursday in Humphrey Coliseum.