Riding a three-game winning streak, the Lady Tigers looked to keep momentum in their favor Sunday against No. 13 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., but a poor shooting performance from the field resulted in a 63-56 defeat for LSU.
Following Thursday night’s victory against Mississippi State, LSU coach Nikki Caldwell said it would be crucial for her squad to break its trend of playing sluggishly in the first half.
But when the No. 14 Lady Tigers (17-5, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) took the floor to start the game Sunday, the tendency returned. After jumping out to a 6-0 lead within the first minute of regulation, Kentucky (17-5, 5-4 SEC) took over by going on a 13-0 run.
“When we look back at the film, we will see missed opportunities in the paint,” Caldwell said. “I thought we left too many layups, and when you’re on the road, you have to make layups and free throws. You just have to.”
The Lady Tigers failed to make a basket for nine minutes, and Kentucky used the opportunity to quickly build its lead.
Caldwell said her squad had its chances to score during that stretch.
“We got easy looks at the basket during that nine-minute stretch, but we didn’t capitalize on making layups,” Caldwell said. “That’s something that’s attributed to a lack of focus, and we’ve got to be better.”
LSU missed nine straight shots from the field before finally drawing within three points of the Wildcats, but Kentucky didn’t take its foot off the gas pedal.
The Wildcats continued on an 8-0 run.
Lady Tiger senior forward Shanece McKinney led the squad in scoring in the first half with eight points, but LSU went into the locker room trailing 32-23 at halftime.
The second half was much of the same.
Kentucky built a 15-point lead with 11:36 remaining in the contest, and the Wildcats as a whole combined to keep the Lady Tigers down. Wildcat junior guards Bria Goss and Jennifer O’Neill both reached double-digit scoring, and seven Kentucky players scored six or more points.
LSU freshman guard Raigyne Moncrief kept the Lady Tigers in the contest late, shooting 7-of-16 from the field and finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Overall, the Lady Tigers shot poorly from the field, shooting 32 percent, and they were even worse from 3-point range, making only one of their
11 attempts.
Turnovers also proved to be a fatal flaw for LSU, as Kentucky scored 25 points off the Lady Tigers’ 18 total giveaways.
“Our turnovers cost us,” Caldwell said. “It allowed them to get their transition game going. We should’ve made some wiser decisions. We’ve got to be better at taking care of the basketball. We just didn’t do what we needed to do on the offensive end.”