When the season started in November, questions swirled around sophomore guard Raigyne Moncrief’s return to the court after an ACL tear and her ability to run the Lady Tigers’ offense with the suspension of junior guard Danielle Ballard.
Despite struggling at times, Moncrief has answered these questions by developing into a spark on both ends of the floor with her athleticism and excelling in late game situations since Ballard’s return against Vanderbilt on Jan. 8.
“[Moncrief] has really been an all-around player for us,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “Her ability to not only defend and rebound, but score and distribute the basketball. I like seeing her stat line with four or five assists, four steals and six or seven rebounds. When she’s playing on both ends of the floor, we’re a very good basketball team.”
After posting 10.1 points and 1.8 steals per game her freshman season, Moncrief is second on the team in points per game (11.2) and steals (51).
Despite her overall success this season, Moncrief buckled under the pressure of running the offense early in the season.
In the Lady Tigers’ 14 games without Ballard, Moncrief averaged 2.9 assists compared with 3.9 turnovers per game.
Moncrief and sophomore guard Rina Hill’s inability to create assists to facilitate the offense contributed to the Lady Tigers’ early offensive struggles. Through the first 14 games, LSU averaged 63.4 points and 10.8 assists per game and shot 40.1 percent from the floor.
Moncrief said one of her main problems during this stretch was overthinking the game.
Since Ballard’s return, Moncrief has relaxed into her role as a leader alongside Ballard. In the Lady Tigers’ 12 games with Ballard, Moncrief has tallied 12.2 points, 6.3 boards and 1.7 steals per game.
Moncrief has been a more effective shooter alongside Ballard, shooting 40.9 percent from the floor compared with 34 percent when Ballard was out. The sophomore guard has tallied more minutes since Ballard’s return, averaging 31.1 minutes per game compared with 26.9 minutes.
“It’s easy to tell that she’s been more decisive [since Ballard’s return],” said junior guard/forward Anne Pedersen. “We’ve all been on her like, ‘[Moncrief], just got to do you. Don’t think too much.’ That’s [Moncrief], she’ll use that engineer brain too much and think too much. It’s been good for her. It took some pressure off, so she can just play her game.”
Since Moncrief’s mentality change, the combination of Ballard and Moncrief has shined in late game situations.
Against Missouri on Feb. 2, Missouri fought back from a 20-point deficit with a 21-3 run during a eight-minute strech in the second half.
Moncrief and Ballard took over in the last 4:30, scoring all of the Lady Tigers last 16 points. Ballard and Moncrief’s ability to completely control games late takes the pressure off their teammates.
The Lady Tigers led by four points against Alabama with seven minutes remaining. Ballard and Moncrief scored eight out of LSU’s final 12 points, propelling the Lady Tigers to a 51-39 victory on Feb. 8.
“It’s a big weight off our shoulders,” said sophomore guard Jasmine Rhodes. “The person that has the ball might not have the shot, and we [can] dribble in and make the extra pass to Danielle or [Moncrief]. We know that they are just going to take over. They both are fearless and they attack really hard.”
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.