The LSU women’s basketball team hadn’t played a game in 11 days, and the rust showed in the beginning of an in-state matchup against Southeastern.
But as the Lady Tigers found their stroke midway through the first half, a one-point game quickly turned into a rout.
LSU (4-4) pulled away from the overmatched Lady Lions (3-6) with a 20-2 run to end the first half, and the Lady Tigers claimed their second consecutive win with a 75-42 victory Sunday in the PMAC.
Sunday’s contest was perhaps LSU’s most well-rounded performance of the season.
As a team, the Lady Tigers posted a season-high 20 assists against just 14 turnovers, won the rebounding battle with a season-best 53 boards and drained 7-of-16 shots from 3-point range.
The Lady Lions’ 42 points on 27 percent shooting was the lowest output LSU has allowed an opponent to score in its eight games this season.
“We’ve talked about being a 40-minute basketball team, and I thought we showed glimpses of that [Sunday],” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “We had key plays from different players at different times.”
Early in the contest, however, there weren’t many signs it would be the Lady Tigers’ best performance of the season.
After an 11-day layoff for finals, LSU connected on just six of its first 18 shots to start.
But clinging to a 13-12 lead with 10:15 left before the break, LSU’s shooters found their touch, going 9-for-16 to end the first half and take a 33-14 advantage into the locker room.
Despite the hot shooting to end the first half, senior forward Sheila Boykin said the Lady Tigers’ game-sealing run started on the other end of the court.  
“Of course, we had to buckle down on defense,” said Boykin, who registered her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. “We were getting a lot of offensive rebounds, but we weren’t converting. Once we started converting those, things picked up for us.”
While the Lady Tigers were heating up the nets, they held the Lady Lions to a cold shooting display in the first half. Southeastern went just 5-for-30 from the field in the first 20 minutes of action, including a 1-of-14 mark from 3-point territory.
Senior guard DaShawn Harden finished with a game-high 20 points while grabbing a personal-best nine rebounds. She also went 4-of-8 from 3-point range, giving her a 48-percent clip from deep in her last four games.
But Harden’s ability to chase down defensive rebounds and push the ball up the court helped the Lady Tigers pull away from Southeastern in the first half. 
“At the time, I felt like we needed to pick our tempo up,” Harden said. “It’s easier when a guard rebounds and pushes. On a couple of them, I’m not going to lie, I got a little bit lucky. That’s it. I just got the ball and helped set our transition game faster.”
Despite finishing with her lowest point total in three games, sophomore guard Raigyne Moncrief efficiently paced the Lady Tigers with a near triple-double.
The All-Southeastern Conference selection posted eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists with only one turnover. Moncrief also tallied a block and a steal in 28 minutes of play.
The Lady Tigers led by as many as 22 points midway through the second half, but Southeastern senior guards Symone Miller and Elizabeth Styles, who combined for 25 points, helped pull the Lady Lions to a 49-39 deficit with 7:09 left in regulation.  
But LSU responded to the late challenge, going on a 25-3 run over the final seven minutes to seal their second consecutive win.
The Lady Tigers have played perhaps their two most complete games of the season following a three-game losing streak that was highlighted with losses to Tulane and then-No. 22 Rutgers.
LSU has claimed consecutive double-digit victories for the first time this season, outscoring its opponents by an average of 23.5 points per game while holding the opposition to 25 percent shooting from the field.
“I’ve seen us really grow in certain areas of our defensive scheme, and we’re going to continue to get better the more we practice it and the more we play it,” Caldwell said. “This is a totally different team from last year. We’ve got a lot of new faces, and we’re doing a lot of teaching at this time. Our defense is going to get stronger as the season progresses.”