The madness is over.
Eighteen days and 63 women’s games later, sports fans around the country today are licking their bracket wounds and shelling out their life savings on lost bets.
LSU fans undoubtedly didn’t want the women’s championship run to end again in the Final Four, but as coach Pokey Chatman said after the Duke game, a loss should not define a player’s career or an entire season.
But frustration sets in, and rightfully so when a team is so close to a national championship for the third straight year but falls again.
Still, that doesn’t mean the events during the entire season should not be appreciated at some point.
So for those who want to reminisce about the first 33 games of the Lady Tigers’ season instead of sulking over the final game, here are the top 10 memorable events of the 2006 run.
 
No. 10 — AUGUSTUS HITS 2,000
A game against in-state rival New Orleans usually lacks any semblance of excitement, but this season’s game was a little more significant.
Augustus made a jump shot in the paint with 5:08 remaining in the first half of the Dec. 12 match-up to surpass the 2,000-mark and join Joyce Walker (2,906), Cornelia Gayden (2,451) and Julie Gross (2,488) in the LSU 2,000-point club.
 
No. 9 — FOWLES DOMINATES SUPERSTAR
Sophomore center Sylvia Fowles made a name for herself Dec. 15 on the road against No. 4 Ohio State.
Fowles scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds against All-American center Jessica Davenport to lead LSU to a 64-48 win.
The sophomore center also helped LSU snap the Lady Buckeyes’ 21-game home court winning streak, the sixth longest in the country at the time.
 
No. 8 — DAWG FIGHT
The Lady Tigers’ first Southeastern Conference nail-biter came Jan. 22 on the road against the Lady Bulldogs, and Augustus saved the day for LSU.
The two-time National Player of the Year hit a baseline jumper with 14 seconds left in the game to give LSU a 65-64 victory.
The Lady Tigers won the game after escaping a 31-point performance by Georgia forward Tasha Humphrey.
 
No. 7 — 2005 NATIONAL RUNNER-UP NO MATCH
Michigan State came to the Maravich Center on Dec. 28 fresh off a 2005 berth in the national championship game but could not keep pace with LSU.
The Lady Tigers destroyed the Lady Spartans 72-52, and beat their second top-10 team just 11 games into the season.
LSU held Michigan State’s leading scorer, forward Liz Shimek, to 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
 
No. 6 — MARAVICH CENTER GOODBYE
On Feb. 26, the eighth-largest crowd in women’s basketball history (10,074 paid attendance) said goodbye to seniors Seimone Augustus, Scholanda Hoston and Florence Williams.
The Lady Tigers won 62-48 as Augustus left her home floor for the last time after hitting her patented cross-over, head-fake, fall-away jump shot with 1:26 left to play in the game.
 
No. 5 — FLORIDA NOT SO CORDIAL
Losses can be memorable, right?
The Lady Gators had never beaten a top-4 opponent and did so as Augustus netted a career-high 35 points.
LSU was its own worst enemy in the Feb. 16 game, missing 12 free throws and committing 22 turnovers.
Sophomore guards Erica White and RaShonta LeBlanc combined to miss four free throws in the final 13 seconds to allow Florida to tie the game and force overtime.
Florida guard Sarah Lowe made her two free throws with 3.2 seconds left in the extra frame as the Lady Gators snapped LSU’s 24-game conference winning streak.
 
No. 4 — SEC CHAMPS, AGAIN
The Lady Tigers took their own championship celebration on the road Feb. 23 against Alabama.
Fowles poured in a career-high 28 points, and Augustus added 32 points of her own as LSU claimed its second-consecutive SEC regular season title.
 
No. 3 — THE REMATCH
All the well-rehearsed downplaying of LSU’s rematch against national champion Baylor came out Jan. 30 in the Maravich Center.
But the 31-point romp of the reigning national champions on national television was vastly overshadowed by some post-game fireworks.
LSU coach Pokey Chatman pulled her hand away from a post game handshake with Baylor coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson.
Mulkey-Robertson said Chatman told her something unprofessional, but Chatman denied saying anything offensive.
The scuffle made headlines across the nation the next day, and to this day neither coach has told the entire story of what happened.
The Lady Tigers can expect a nice, warm welcome from Baylor fans in a regular season game next season in Waco, Texas.
 
No. 2 — FALL OF THE VOLS
Tennessee had not lost an SEC game in Knoxville in 10 years, and LSU had never beaten the Lady Vols at home in the program’s history.
But that all changed in front of 15,850 fans on Feb. 9.
Fowles received a laser pass from Augustus with 16 seconds remaining, and Fowles converted the layup, giving LSU a 3-point lead.
Augustus then made up for two missed free-throws by blocking guard Shanna Zolman’s 3-point attempt at the end of the game.
Tennessee seemed to have lost its momentum when guard Alexis Hornbucke was tagged with a technical foul for taunting LSU guard Erica White after a made field-goal.
Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt said after the game she thought the call was undeserved.
 
No. 1 – TAKING CHARGE
Seimone Augustus, the nation’s best offensive player, turned to her defensive inclination with 4.8 seconds remaining in LSU’s Elite 8 game March 27 versus Stanford.
The Lady Tigers clung to a 1-point lead when Stanford guard Candice Wiggins drove the lane, crashed into Augustus and made a pass to wide-open Stanford guard Krista Rappahahn.
Rappahahn drained her 3-point attempt, but Wiggins was called for an offensive charge, and Augustus began to celebrate while shaking vigorously on the gym floor.
Augustus then walked to the other end of the floor and made her two free throws, which sealed the Lady Tigers’ 62-59 victory over the Lady Cardinal.
“It was just really surprising that that would be called then,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “It seems at that point it would be a no-call.”
LSU coach Pokey Chatman said Augustus’ defensive stand was ironic since the All-American is known mostly for her offensive play.
“Seimone, knowing the kind of player she was, wanted to take matters into her own hands, took that chance,” Chatman said. “She was in a great position and took the charge.”
 
Kyle is a freshman in public relations.
Contact him at [email protected]