Any thoughts of a post-Connecticut hangover were dashed within the first nine minutes of last night’s game.
Three days after their first loss of the season, the Lady Tigers (15-1, 4-0) used sophomore guard Erica White’s first career start and senior forward Florence Williams’ first career double-double to trample Alabama 79-43 in the PMAC last night.
White was forced into the starting lineup after sophomore guard RaShonta LeBlanc sprained her ankle in practice Wednesday.
“I thought Erica did a tremedous job,” coach Pokey Chatman said. “She did a great job of running her team not just on the offensive end of the floor but getting us into the right defensive sets.”
White said she thought she played an average game, but senior guard Seimone Augustus said White’s play helped spark the team’s transition offense.
“She got the ball up the court fast, and we got into our offense quickly,” Augustus said. “And she made great decisions with the ball at times.”
Sophomore center Sylvia Fowles again found herself in foul trouble and played only 14 minutes. She finished the game with a career-low four points and a season-low four rebounds.
The LSU defense forced 31 Alabama turnovers, while the offense responded by converting the Tide’s miscues into 34 points. The Lady Tigers’ defense also forced Alabama to shoot just 31.6 percent from the floor.
LSU also outrebounded Alabama, who came into the game leading the Southeastern Conference with a positive 11.6 rebound-per-game margin.
Augustus bounced back from shooting 6-of-19 against Connecticut to lead the team in scoring with 20 points.
Williams and sophomore guard Quianna Chaney combined for 34 points on 14-of-23 shooting to propel the Lady Tigers’ offense.
As a team, LSU shot 48.3 percent from the floor.
“I tell the kids all the time that [playing hard] should be the given,” Chatman said. “I was pleased with the energy level throughout.”
With LSU up by 1 with 16:15 to play in the first half, the Lady Tigers used a 10-0 run to distance themselves from the Crimson Tide for good.
Alabama coach Stephany Smith, who was coaching her first game against LSU, said the Lady Tigers completely had their way against the Tide.
“Even when [LSU] overplayed and left something open, we couldn’t take advantage of it because they recover so quickly because of their athleticism,” said Smith, who described the Lady Tigers as having “smothersome athleticism.”
 
Contact Kyle Whitfield at [email protected]