The LSU women’s basketball team avenged its largest defeat of the season and jumped in the Southeastern Conference standings with a 50-42 victory over Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., on Thursday night.
In the teams’ previous meeting, the Razorbacks (19-6, 8-5 SEC) stomped the Lady Tigers (18-8, 8-5 SEC) by a score of 72-52 in a Jan. 22 game in the PMAC that was never close.
“This is a different team,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell in a post-game radio show. “We played that way tonight.”
LSU’s victory Thursday night extended the Lady Tigers’ SEC winning streak to four games and ended Arkansas’ streak at eight.
“We told this team that we have to play with the heart of a champion, and it starts with our defense and our board play,” Caldwell said.
The Lady Tigers limited Arkansas to 30.4 percent shooting from the field and out-rebounded the Razorbacks, 36 to 21.
“I really felt like this team believed in our game plan, but most importantly they believed in each other,” Caldwell said. “It started with us really making our mind up, changing our mindset and our attitude, that we’re going to be a team that makes you grind it out.”
Nineteen of LSU’s 50 points came from the bench, including seven each from senior forward Courtney Jones and sophomore forward Theresa Plaisance.
“We got great play from everybody who came off the bench,” Caldwell said.
Senior forward LaSondra Barrett paced the Lady Tigers with a team-high 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Junior guard Adrienne Webb added 10 points and five boards of her own.
Arkansas senior guard C’eira Ricketts scored a game-high 19 points on just 8-of-21 shooting.
LSU shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, with five different Lady Tigers accounting for the 3-pointers.
The Razorbacks, in contrast, shot just 4-of-23 from 3-point range.
After losing five straight SEC contests, the Lady Tigers have rattled off four victories and sit two games away from first place in the conference, with three games remaining.
“I’m extremely pleased with this group and how we’ve played in the latter part of our season,” Caldwell said. “After we got through that run where we were losing, we really turned a corner and we’re believing again.”
The Lady Tigers return to action Sunday at 2 p.m. against Auburn in the PMAC, with a chance to close in on one of the top seeds in the SEC tournament.
“This team has a different sense of urgency about them and that’s what you have to have in the latter part of the season,” Caldwell said. “We know what we’re capable of.”
 
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