Turnovers are the bane of the LSU women’s basketball team’s offensive performance three games into its 2014-15 season.
Through this early stretch, the Lady Tigers (2-1) have turned the ball over 66 times, averaging 22 turnovers in their first three games.
“We are a team that has to improve quickly, and the area of concern right now is our inability to take care of the basketball,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “Then obviously, when you do enough defensively and when you are holding a team in the 40s, you have to look at your offensive execution.”
During Caldwell’s tenure at LSU, the Lady Tigers average 17.77 turnovers per game. However, Caldwell’s teams average 19.58 turnovers in the first three games during her four seasons at LSU.
Against Jackson State on Monday night, LSU committed a season-high 27 turnovers.
Although the Lady Tigers struggled, shooting 35 percent in the first half, LSU had opportunities with 40 attempts and only five turnovers.
The Lady Tigers’ offensive chances were stalled in the second half by 18 turnovers, which resulted in only 24 shots being taken in the period.
“We didn’t make some great decisions in transition,” Caldwell said. “I thought we turned the ball over too much when we had numbers. Everybody wanted to get a turnover, it seemed like. We’ve got to figure out how to eliminate that.”
All but one LSU player turned the ball over at least once against Jackson State.
Sophomore guards Raigyne Moncrief and Rina Hill combined for 10 of the Lady Tigers’ final 27 turnovers against Jackson State.
Hill leads LSU with 11 turnovers this season, and Moncrief is not far behind with eight.
Hill’s point-to-turnover ratio is .91 this season, while Moncrief leads the Lady Tigers with 37 points.
“It starts with chemistry,” Moncrief said. “Coach Caldwell gave us the opportunity to perform, and it is our duty to go out and perform each night. It starts with Rina Hill and myself. We are the two point guards and are supposed to give the ball in space, but we had a ton of turnovers and miscommunications.”
Despite LSU’s own struggles with turnovers, the Lady Tigers forced an average of 24 turnovers per game.
The defensive speed and pressure from LSU’s multiple defensive schemes, especially its full-court press, have helped the Lady Tigers average 13.3 steals per game.
Against Jackson State, senior guard DaShawn Harden led LSU with six steals.
“I think it started with DaShawn Harden,” Moncrief said. “She did a great job of coming off the bench and creating deflections. Once she got on a roll, then the rest of the team followed after. We just have to get our offensive production better.”
The Lady Tigers hope to create turnovers tonight against Tulane, which averages 16 turnovers per game.
On the offensive end, LSU must improve quickly because the Green Wave averages 15 steals per game and has allowed opponents an average of 51 points per game.