An uninspired 62-46 loss to No. 16 Georgia in the regular season finale will send LSU into the Southeastern Conference tournament on a sour note.
The Bulldogs snapped LSU’s six-game win streak and dropped LSU to 20-9 on the season. The Lady Tigers (10-6 SEC) were still able to lock up the No. 4 seed in the conference, earning a first round bye in the SEC tournament.
Though the Lady Tigers were down by only three at halftime, the Bulldogs put the game out of reach early in the second half, much to the chagrin of LSU coach Nikki Caldwell.
“You don’t necessarily worry about the outcome of the game, you worry about how we’re playing,” Caldwell said in a postgame radio interview. “I was not pleased with how we played. We’ll have to take this and move forward as we get ready for SEC play.”
The game seemed to turn after LSU junior guard Adrienne Webb connected on a 3-pointer to cut the Bulldog lead to 41-35 with 12:57 remaining.
The Lady Tigers didn’t score again until the 7:42 mark of the contest, when senior forward LaSondra Barrett connected on the first of two free throws.
In the six-plus minutes LSU didn’t score, Georgia built an 18-point lead while LSU missed all five of its field goal attempts, committed five fouls and turned the ball over four times.
The Lady Tigers turned the ball over 23 times in the game, with sophomore guard Jeanne Kenney committing five of the turnovers in 23 minutes of playing time.
The turnovers have plagued the LSU offense the entire season, and Georgia looked to exploit LSU’s sloppiness with aggressive defense on the perimeter.
“They rattled our guard play and took us out of our action offensively,” Caldwell said. “We didn’t play well out of their traps and it led to turnovers, which they capitalized on.”
Senior forward Courtney Jones and Webb each scored 11 points to lead the team. Barrett finished with 10, though she went just 2-of-9 from the field.
The rest of the roster struggled to find its touch, however, as every other player scored four or fewer points. The LSU bench combined to shoot just 4-of-16 from the floor.
“We’re definitely going to evaluate this game because I did not feel like we got better,” Caldwell said. “I felt like we fell short of our goal to come in here and play competitive basketball.”
LSU will open its tournament play Friday at 6:30 p.m. when they face the winner of the Arkansas and Ole Miss.
“It’s going to be a fight,” Caldwell said. “That’s the beauty of playing in March Madness and playing in the SEC tournament. I’m excited for this team to be playing and continue to live to see another day of