Senior center Sylvia Fowles gave the Lady Tiger faithful plenty to be thankful about Wednesday evening in the PMAC.
The 6-foot-6-inch Fowles dunked the ball for the first time, breaking free in the open court at the 9:29 mark in the first half ofWednesday’s 72-34 win over University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
“It felt good just to hear the crowd go wild,” said Fowles, who became the first LSU women’s basketball player to dunk the balland just the sixth collegiate woman in history to accomplish such a feat.
The only other collegiate women who have dunked are Candace Parker and Michelle Snow of Tennessee, Charlotte Smith of North Carolina, Sancho Lyttle of Houston andGeorgeann Wells of West Virginia.
“I actually wanted to show the fans that I could get up there and get above the rim,” Fowles said of her one-handed dunk.
Fowles said some additional motivation came from knowing her former teammates Seimone Augustus and Temeka Johnson were in the crowd.
“I owed it to them,” she said.
LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor said he has consistently encouraged Fowles to dunk the ball.
“I thought it would be good for her and good for our crowd,” he said. “What a play … It was not a cheap dunk, not a set-up dunk… not an ‘everybody clear out of the way’ dunk. It was contested.”
Even opposing coach Errol Rogers, in his first year with the Ragin Cajuns, enjoyed Fowles’ display.
“I loved it. I just couldn’t smile at the time, but I loved it,” he said. “It’s great for women’s college basketball. I’m sorry I had to be part of it, but hey, that’s life.”
Fowles led LSU with 21 points and 12 rebounds while senior guard Erica White added 11.
The Lady Tigers, coming off a 75-62 loss to Maryland on Sunday, put the game away early with a 19-point halftime lead.
Rogers said he was disappointed with his team’s 26 turnovers and how Fowles’ presence limited offensive production in the paint.
“When you’ve got a big kid like Sylvia Fowles, sometimes you get nervous and don’t attack the rim like you should,” he said.
LSU now goes on the road to face No. 7-ranked Rutgers on Sunday in Piscataway, N.J.LSU last matched up against Rutgers in the 2007 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, when the Scarlet Knights knocked the LadyTigers out of their fourth-straight Final Four with a 59-35 victory.
“If there’s anyone that should match up well with them, it’s us, because you’re going to see two extremely athletic teams on thefloor,” White said. “It’s about who can play the smartest.”
Chancellor ended his post-game press conference by stressing the Lady Tiger pride involved in Sunday’s game.
“[Watching the Final Four loss] hurt me and I didn’t even coach them last year,” he said. “I just told our team, “Do we have any pride here? What do we stand for?”
He then made a humorous statement in reference to speculation about Michigan’s possible interest in hiring LSU football coach Les Miles.
“I promise y’all one thing … I am not taking the Michigan job,” Chancellor said.