The LSU women’s basketball team’s 2014 season has to be told in three different parts. First came a rise to prominence, then a tumultuous fall from grace and finally a resurrection of the team in the NCAA tournament.
The Lady Tigers entered the season ranked No. 15, but failed in their first test of the season in an 88-67 loss to Louisville in the semifinals of the Preseason Women’s NIT. They stayed with the Cardinals for most of the game, but fell apart when the Cardinals went on a 21-0 run in the second half.
LSU would recover, winning 10 of its next 11 games, including the 2013 Barclays Center Women’s Invitational in Brooklyn. But no victory was bigger than its 80-77 victory against then-No. 5 Tennessee on Jan. 2 in Knoxville.
The loss snapped a seven-game losing streak to Tennessee that went back to 2009, and it was head coach Nikki Caldwell’s first victory against her alma mater. Sophomore guard Danielle Ballard tallied a then-career-high 25 points, and junior guard DaShawn Harden scored 17 coming off the bench.
“I can’t say enough about how proud I am of this group,” Caldwell said after the win. “They really just laid it out on the line and were courageous to come in this tough environment and come away with a win.”
But as the Lady Tigers went deeper into Southeastern Conference play, the team’s offensive production began to slow down and the losses began to come. Losses to Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Kentucky dragged LSU down, but it still had a chance to win the conference entering the season’s home stretch.
The team then experienced its lowest point of the season, a six-game losing streak that dropped LSU to the middle of the SEC standings. The team’s main weakness was its defense, allowing more than 70 points in five of its six games.
The fall from grace gave the Lady Tigers a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. The team responded in the first round with its largest offensive outburst of the season in a 98-78 blowout against Georgia Tech.
In its second round game against West Virginia, LSU was already without freshman guard Raigyne Moncrief and lost senior point guard Jeanne Kenney in the first half due to a concussion. But the rest of the team stayed resilient, going on a 20-4 run to end the game and winning, 76-67.
“This is one of those moments that as a fan and a coach, that you honestly can say this is one of the hardest fought games between two very good teams,” Caldwell said.
The Lady Tigers would get a rematch against Louisville in the Sweet 16, but this time without Kenney and Moncrief. The results were similar to the loss at the beginning of the season, losing 73-47 and ending their year.
Senior forward Theresa Plaisance was the Lady Tigers star this season, leading the team in both points and rebounds for the second season in a row. Plaisance also won All-SEC First Team honors for the second consecutive season.
Plaisance now has set her eyes on the pros after the Tulsa Shock selected her with the 27th pick overall in the WNBA draft.
Next season, the Lady Tigers will try to replace Kenney, Plaisance and senior forward Shanece McKinney with Ballard and Moncrief becoming the new leaders of the team. The team also expects improvement from freshman guards Jasmine Rhodes and Rina Hill.
“We’re going to play to our personnel every year. My philosophy is still going to be the same no matter if you’re 6’4 or 6’1,” Caldwell said. “… I look for our team to be more up and down next year.”