After defeating then-No. 12 Texas A&M by 17 points Sunday afternoon in its season finale, the LSU women’s basketball beat the No. 18 Aggies, 71-65, on Friday afternoon and earned a trip to the Southeastern Conference Tournament Semifinal against the top seed South Carolina.
The Lady Tigers (17-12, 11-6 SEC) came out on fire in the first half, shooting 8-of-9 and holding the Aggies (23-9, 10-6 SEC) to 31 points.
LSU started the game on 13-0 run sparked by senior forward Sheila Boykin’s jumper just 18 seconds in. During the run, senior guard DaShawn Harden drained two 3-pointers and junior guard Danielle Ballard tallied six points on 3-for-3 shooting from the floor.
The Lady Tigers shot 52.9 from the field in first half and 60 percent from behind the 3-point line. LSU’s offense tallied only one turnover in the first half, and Ballard led the Lady Tigers with 10 points and six rebounds in the first period.
LSU’s defense held Texas A&M to a 33.3 percent shooting clip from the field. The Lady Tigers headed into the break with a 13-point lead after leading by as many as 19 points in the first half.
But the Lady Tigers struggled offensively in the second half as they shot only 28 percent from the floor and allowed the Aggies to come back.
Texas A&M rallied with a 17-8 run from the 10:30 mark until it cut the Lady Tigers’ lead to only three points with 1:35 left in the game.
Then, Ballard and sophomore guard Raigyne Moncrief took the game over by scoring six of the Lady Tigers last eight points. LSU’s defense thrived in the last 1:30, holding the Aggies to five points.
After the Aggies’ dynamic duo of junior forward/guard Courtney Williams and junior guard Courtney Walker scored a combined 16 points in the first half, the Lady Tigers’ defense held Walker and Williams to only 11 points combined in the second.
LSU will face No. 3 South Carolina, the top seed in the SEC Tournament, in the SEC Tournament semifinals at 4 p.m. Saturday.