Most episodes of the long-running crime drama “Hawaii Five-O” end with Steve McGarrett’s signature catch phrase to Danny Williams: “Book ’em, Danno!”LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor channelled his inner McGarrett on Tuesday to say what he thinks about the rest of the season.”You can book this one: LSU women’s basketball is coming back,” Chancellor said.The Hall of Fame coach said the Lady Tigers weren’t ready for the spotlight of national television or the pressure of playing in front of a record-breaking crowd in Sunday’s 62-53 loss to No. 15 Notre Dame in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic.Sunday’s attendance of 7,954 was the largest for a Lady Tigers’ home opener.Chancellor said his team didn’t play hard enough, and it resulted in LSU being “not very good” against the Irish.But Chancellor defended his players and put the blame for the loss on himself.”It was nobody’s fault but the coach’s,” he said. “I should have probably [scheduled] a different exhibition game.”LSU won preseason games against Loyola New Orleans and the Houston Jags by double digits but had trouble scoring against the Irish. The Lady Tigers shot 34 percent from the floor Sunday.One player who didn’t meet Chancellor’s expectations in the season opener was junior guard Allison Hightower. Hightower was 3-of-12 shooting from the field.”Allison’s putting too much pressure on herself,” Chancellor said. “We’ll move the ball around better next week.”The Lady Tigers don’t play again until Monday when they host Tulane.Chancellor said the week off will help his players adjust from Sunday’s physical style of play.He also joked the wait between games could drive him to his breaking point.”The coaching staff’s got me on the bridge watch so I won’t go over there and jump off,” Chancellor said.Chancellor said LSU made a point to have a week-long break in case the young team suffered an opening-day letdown.”We didn’t schedule a game in between because we thought this might happen,” he said.One thing Chancellor didn’t expect was the performance of freshman forward Swayze Black.”Swayze Black played seven of the best minutes you’ll ever play,” Chancellor said.Black didn’t see the court until late in the second half but made the most of her minutes. She recorded seven points and three rebounds and attacked Notre Dame’s interior defense, shooting 3-of-5 from the foul line.”When I got in, I just decided to shoot the ball whenever I could,” Black said.Black wasn’t nervous before her first game, but she said some teammates might have lost their nerves in front of the national television audience.She said players need to practice more aggressively more often during the week off to step up their efforts.”After looking at the film, the effort wasn’t as good as we thought,” Black said.Contact David Harvey at [email protected]
Chancellor shoulders blame for first loss
By David Harvey
Sports contributor
Sports contributor
November 18, 2008