In their first two matchups, LSU and Tennessee featured teams mounting large comebacks but ultimately falling short.
Unfortunately for the Lady Tigers, third time was the charm.
The Lady Tigers (19-12, 7-9 Southeastern Conference) got off to a 15-point lead early, but strong rebounding by Tennessee (25-5, 13-3 SEC) and a shooting slump by the Lady Tigers in the second half led to a 77-65 loss to the Lady Volunteers in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.
“You’ve got to play to win and not to lose,” said LSU assistant coach Tasha Butts. “You can’t play this game looking at the clock, you can’t play this game not being disciplined in your action and not boxing out and taking care of the basketball and shot selection. I think that’s the thing we went away from.”
The loss marks the seventh in the last eight games for LSU, a team that once held a top 15 ranking and a 12-2 record. Two of the last three losses have come to the Lady Volunteers, including a 72-67 loss on Feb. 27.
The Lady Tigers began the game with an offensive explosion, scoring 22 points in the a little more than six minutes and reaching a 27-12 lead at one point. But a steady run to end the first half helped Tennessee close the score to six at halftime.
The Lady Tigers main point of attack in the first half came from behind the arc. LSU made seven three point field goals in the first 20 minutes, a mark it has not reached in their last 14 games.
In the second half, Tennessee made several attempts to take the lead, but LSU seemed to come up with the counter play each time. Then, with around eight minutes left, Tennessee went on a 20-0 run lasting five minutes to not only take the lead, but put the game away.
“I was sitting on the bench, and I saw a team that was not playing with confidence,” Butts said. “We saw a team that was not playing with that same swagger that they played with the first half. It had everything to do with us looking at the score and playing not to lose.”
The biggest difference in the game came on the glass, where Tennessee out rebounded the Lady Tigers 48-30. That included 21 offensive rebounds for the Lady Vols, the third most LSU has allowed to an opponent all season.
LSU was led by senior forward Theresa Plaisance, who tallied 21 points including 14 in the first half. After reaching the 20-point plateau only twice in her first 25 games of the season season, the two-time All-SEC First Team winner has reached the mark four times in her last six games.
The Lady Tigers will play again when they host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament March 23-25 at the PMAC. ESPN’s Charlie Creme currently projects the Lady Tigers as a 10 seed in the tournament, but they won’t know their opponent until the bracket is announced on March 17.
Butts said the team is not trying to get into the tournament just to participate, but to compete with anyone they face.
“We’re not trying to get into the tournament to play one game,” Butts said. “We’re trying to make sure we can go as far as we can and compete at a national level the way that our coaching staff knows that we can do.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

John Bazemore/AP

LSU forward Shanece McKinney (21) blocks Tennessee forward Bashaara Graves' shot during the first half in an NCAA college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference women's tournament, Friday, March 7, 2014, in Duluth, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)