In 19 seasons as coach at Ole Miss, Van Chancellor dominated in-state rival Mississippi State, winning 37 of the team’s 38 meetings. Now at LSU, Chancellor showed Sunday how difficult old habits are to break in the No. 9 Lady Tigers’ 84-31 victory against the Lady Bulldogs (12-6, 0-3). “I graduated from Mississippi State, and it’s been a phenomenal run,” Chancellor said. “I hope it doesn’t end any time soon.” The 53-point win marked the largest Southeastern Conference victory in school history for LSU, surpassing the Lady Tigers’ 44-point victory against Kentucky in 2003. LSU (14-3, 3-0) controlled the game from the opening tip, scoring five seconds into the game when senior center Sylvia Fowles scored two of her 11 points off a pass from senior forward Ashley Thomas. “I’m awfully proud of that play,” Chancellor said. “No one has guarded us that way on the jump ball, so we were not prepared for that play.” Senior guard Quianna Chaney scored 14 of her game-high 16 points in the first 11 minutes of the game, giving LSU a 26-4 lead before coasting to a 48-15 halftime advantage. “Offensively, we started clicking early in the game,” senior guard RaShonta LeBlanc said. “Then we knew we had to just take care of things on the defensive end.” The Lady Tigers limited Mississippi State to just four field goals in the first half and nine for the game, holding the Lady Bulldogs to 15 percent shooting from the field. “You have to expect to win, and you have to play and compete and not be scared of losing,” Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning said. “We looked scared of things, and sometimes that leads to poor execution.” The Lady Tigers began the second half on a 23-2 run to take a 71-17 lead with just more than eight minutes to play. LSU held Mississippi State scoreless for nearly 11 minutes in the second half while the Lady Bulldogs missed 16 straight shots. Seniors Mesha Williams, Khalilah Mitchell and Marian Whitfield combined for 30 of LSU’s 42 bench points to help the Lady Tigers continue to extend their lead. “That is what we need from [the bench],” Chaney said. “You never know when you will have to step up.”
—-Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]