The LSU women’s basketball team kept the game close until the final minutes Sunday against No. 5 Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, but it was not enough to end its woes on the road.
The Lady Tigers’ (12-8, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) 73-60 loss to the Wildcats (19-2, 7-1 SEC) marked their fifth straight as the visiting team.
“I’m disappointed for our team because it is another missed opportunity for us to play the way that we are capable of playing,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell in a postgame radio interview.
The 13-point deficit was the largest suffered by LSU so far this season, but the Lady Tigers were in striking distance for a large majority of the matchup.
LSU did put an end to its recent trend of slow starts on the road. It fared well against the powerhouse Kentucky squad in a back-and-forth first half that saw seven lead changes and five tie scores.
But a five-point run in the final 27 seconds of the half put the Wildcats ahead 31-26 heading into the locker room – a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the game.
“That gave them momentum going into the second half,” Caldwell said. “… You have to play this game a certain way for 40 minutes, and that is where we fell short.”
After a quick 3-pointer from Kentucky sophomore guard Jennifer O’Neill gave the Wildcats an eight-point lead to start the second half, the Lady Tigers fought hard to keep the game close.
But it seemed every time LSU forced its way back into the game, Kentucky fired again to extend its lead.
“I thought that we were able to cut into the runs that they made, and we knew that the game was going to be about a game of runs,” Caldwell said.
The game was finally put out of reach in the final two minutes. LSU senior guard Adrienne Webb earned two free throws to possibly bring the Lady Tigers within four points after Kentucky junior forward Samarie Walker committed a technical foul, but Webb failed to convert either.
The Wildcats went on to score the next seven points before the final buzzer.
“The thing that our group has to understand is when you play on the road you can’t wish to win on the road,” Caldwell said. “You have to make your breaks, you have to make it happen, and you have to really see yourself coming away with the win.”
LSU was led once again by junior forward Theresa Plaisance, who posted a game-high 19 points and came down with eight rebounds. The performance came despite sitting on the bench for about nine minutes in the first half with foul trouble.
Webb also had a big night, putting up 18 points, five rebounds and an assist.
Kentucky’s biggest spark came off of the bench from sophomore forward Azia Bishop, who shot 7-of-10 from the field in a 17-point effort in 20 minutes of play.
The Lady Tigers will have another shot at success on the road Thursday when they travel to take on Auburn.
