The rich got richer Thursday night in the PMAC in the LSU women’s basketball team’s 79-66 win over the University of Florida.
Thanks to an 11-point and 11-rebound performance from junior center Sylvia Fowles, the Lady Tigers improved to 85-10 in their last 95 games.
The win gives LSU the fewest losses of all the Southeastern Conference teams over that span, just ahead of the University of Tennessee, with an 89-12 record.
LSU coach Pokey Chatman said she credits her team’s success in extended television coverage of women’s basketball.
“Our game has evolved,” Pokey Chatman said. “No longer do we have to go to a school and say, ‘Hi, I’m from LSU,’ because our game has evolved, and it’s not because our coaches are from LSU. The game is just more available.”
Fowles credits the team’s success to Chatman’s recruiting skills.
“They just don’t go after everybody that is good at every position,” Fowles said. “They go out and get the players that can fit into the system.”
The Lady Tigers followed the same blueprint they have used all season in Thursday’s victory – consistent offense and smothering defense.
LSU held the Gators to just 38 percent shooting, while holding Florida just below their season scoring average.
The Lady Tigers are the NCAA’s best defensive team heading into the stretch run of the season, giving up just under 47 points per game.
“LSU is ranked No. 7 in the country for a reason,” Florida coach Carolyn Peck said. “It should probably be higher. They are a very good ball club and we knew were going to have our hands full.”
LSU also extended its nation-best home court winning streak Thursday night, winning its 43rd straight game in the PMAC.
While No. 7 LSU remains in the upper echelon of the Southeastern Conference, the Gators have taken a sharp plummet from last season’s 21-9 season that saw the Gators advance to the NCAA Tournament.
The Gators have gone over 40 days since their last victory, a 99-39 blowout over Alabama State University on Dec. 28.
With the loss, Florida has now lost 12 consecutive games, and is winless in 10 SEC games.
“They’ve been close,” Chatman said. “We didn’t want them to get over that hump tonight.”
Peck said she is proud of how well her team has held up, despite the difficult season.
“We have battled in every game,” Peck said. “That is the thing about our players is that they don’t quit.”
The Lady Tigers face a much stiffer opponent in their next game against No. 5 University of Connecticut.
Chatman said playing a solid opponent will help her team move toward March.
“It’s different in the SEC, because we see them play all of the time,” Chatman said. “But when you step outside the conference, that represents postseason… and it’s Connecticut, how can you not get excited by that?”
—–Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]