With two upcoming matchups against Southeastern Conference Eastern Division foes, it would have been easy for No. 8 LSU to look ahead to next week’s conference contests. Instead, the Lady Tigers (19-3, 8-0) further cemented their position atop the SEC West in a 89-53 victory against Alabama (8-15, 1-7) on Thursday night. The win was LSU’s 15th win in its past 16 games and its ninth straight win against the Crimson Tide. Senior center Sylvia Fowles led the way for LSU, scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Senior guard Quianna Chaney added 13 points, and sophomore guard Allison Hightower had 11 points off the bench. Fowles’ performance was her 19th double double this season and the 73rd of her career. “We started the game slowly but got it going, and we played very well tonight,” LSU coach Van Chancellor said in a news release. “We did everything we needed to do to win this game and did it well.” Leading 16-12 with 11:31 to go in the first half, the Lady Tigers outscored Alabama 27-14 to take a 43-26 lead at the half. LSU then opened with a 31-9 run to take a commanding 40-point lead with 6:05 left in the game. As has been the case most of the season, the Lady Tigers’ defense sealed the victory. LSU held Alabama to 34 percent shooting for the game and 29 percent shooting in the second half. LSU shot 54.5 percent for the game. The Lady Tigers only three of their 10 shots from behind the 3-point line but connected on 26-of-33 free-throw attempts. Freshman forward Tierney Jenkins was the only Alabama player to score in double figures. She had 12 points while freshman guard Varisia Raffington added nine. The Lady Tigers will now turn their attention next week’s games against No. 24 Georgia on Sunday and No. 2 Tennessee on Thursday. Lady Bulldogs’ senior forward Tasha Humphrey is second in the SEC in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game. She is also fifth in the conference in rebounding, pulling down 8.8 rebounds per game. This past season, LSU and Georgia played two closely-contested games. The Lady Tigers beat the Lady Bulldogs, 57-55, in the PMAC in January 2007. Georgia returned the favor Feb. 1 with a 53-51 victory on its home court. Sunday’s game in the PMAC will be the 12th annual “Pack the PMAC” promotional game. In addition, both teams will sport pink uniforms to raise breast cancer awareness.
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