The little details are what make the difference between good teams and great ones.
At times during the early Southeastern Conference schedule, the LSU women’s basketball team would deviate from the game plan with frustrating results, such as its 55-48 loss to then-No. 9 Texas A&M on Jan. 11 after blowing a seven-point halftime lead.
But in their back-to-back wins against ranked opponents, the Lady Tigers’ trust in their coaches and their own abilities have created a different dynamic around the program.
“This team is believing,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “They’re believing in one another and that’s been the turning point for our team. … We’re understanding the way LSU basketball is to be played, and that’s defending the basketball 94 feet and really getting after you with hustle plays.”
Caldwell said the Lady Tigers weren’t playing cohesively as a unit throughout their early SEC schedule. LSU didn’t keep up its defensive pressure for a full 40 minutes.
In its last loss against Texas A&M, LSU held the Aggies to only 18 points in the first half before collapsing in the second half and allowing 37 points.
Despite scoring 25 points in the first half, the Lady Tigers were not able to compete in the second half and committed 11 turnovers after tallying only seven in the first half.
“It’s when we detour from the coaches’ plays [that bad things happen],” said sophomore guard Raigyne Moncrief. “When we start doing our own thing and not trusting the coaches’ plays, that’s when we have those bad possessions. It’s really not listening to your coach, or not being disciplined and running the play the way it’s supposed to be run.”
A major spark for the Lady Tigers’ surge was junior guard Danielle Ballard’s return to last year’s postseason form against then-No. 15 Mississippi State last Thursday.
In LSU’s three NCAA tournament games last season, Ballard averaged 23.3 points per game and 14 rebounds.
Despite being suspended for the Lady Tigers’ first 15 games of the season, Ballard has averaged 14.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in the four games since her return.
Against Mississippi State, Ballard carried the team in overtime to push the game to double overtime and eventually to LSU’s first win against a ranked opponent this season.
Ballard led the Lady Tigers with 25 points against then-No. 10 Kentucky on Sunday, and the confidence Ballard brings to the court inspires her teammates.
“I guess we’re all a little more confident,” said sophomore guard Jasmine Rhodes. “[Ballard] adds a big spark to the game, and she definitely boosts everybody up. Even if we are doing something bad, she’s like, ‘Keep your head up.’”
With Ballard back, the Lady Tigers bring confidence and determination to the court that was missing before their current two-game winning streak. LSU averaged 77.5 points per game in its last two wins, including a season-high 84 points against Kentucky.
The Lady Tigers were able to create turnovers, forcing 26 turnovers against Kentucky.
Despite the last two wins, the Lady Tigers are focused on taking on No. 5 Tennessee on Thursday.
“What was interesting was after the Kentucky win, the locker room was, ‘yes, we’re thrilled and happy that we won,’ but they also had this temperament about themselves as though they belonged,” Caldwell said. “That was something I hadn’t seen from this group. I recognized it from last year, but we hadn’t had that this year.”
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.