Not even senior forward Seimone Augustus’ career-high 35 points could prevent the Lady Gators from winning their first-ever game against a top-4 ranked opponent.
Florida guard Sarah Lowe scored 6 of Florida’s 14 overtime points and made two free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime as the Lady Gators beat LSU 79-78 and snapped LSU’s 24-game Southeastern Conference winning streak.
LSU was leading 78-77 in overtime with 13 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard RaShonta LeBlanc, who saw extended playing for the first time since mid-January, missed two free throws. Six seconds earlier, sophomore guard Erica White missed two free throws of her own.
LSU (22-2, 10-1) was without senior guard Scholanda Hoston for most of the game. Hoston left the game with five minutes in the first half after sustaining an injury to her right foot.
The Lady Tigers committed a season-high 22 turnovers and shot 14-of-26 from the foul line. It was the first time LSU had allowed more than 70 points in a game since Nov. 14, 2004, against Baylor.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” LSU coach Pokey Chatman said in a radio interview. “When you turn the ball over 22 times, you don’t give yourself a lot of opportunities.”
The Lady Gators used uncharacteristic sharp 3-point shooting to go step-for-step with LSU.
Coming into the game, Florida (19-6, 7-5) ranked eighth in the SEC in 3-point shooting, averaging 31.3 percent per game. The Lady Gators shot 56 percent against LSU from the 3-point arc on 9-of-16 shooting.
“We haven’t been defending the three well lately, and it showed tonight,” Chatman said.
With 12:18 left to play in the second half, the Lady Tigers gained their largest lead of the game on a 9-0 run and seemed poised to distance themselves from Florida.
But LSU went scoreless during the remaining 5:10 in the half as Florida closed on a 9-0 run to force overtime. The Lady Gators had a chance to win the game in regulation, but senior forward Dalila Eshe missed a jump shot as time expired.
“We were fortunate to even get into overtime,” Chatman said.
Augustus led all scorers with 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting. Sophomore center Sylvia Fowles recorded her 16th double-double on the season with 23 points and 16 rebounds.
“This is a defense we’ve seen in 20-plus games, and we didn’t do an average job in trying to get [Augustus and Fowles] touches,” Chatman said.
Freshman guard Sha Brooks led the Lady Gators with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Eshe scored 8 of Florida’s 14 overtime points. She finished the game with 22 points and six rebounds.
In the first half, LSU never led by more than 8 points as the Lady Gators trailed by just 2 points at halftime.
“From the first three minutes of the game, I didn’t feel we were into [the game] even though we put up 14 points,” Chatman said.
The Lady Tigers’ last SEC loss was Feb. 29, 2004, against Tennessee in Knoxville.
 
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