The No. 5 LSU women’s basketball team was defeated by Rutgers 59-35 this past season in the Final Four. The Lady Tigers were unable to get revenge on the No. 7 Scarlet Knights on Sunday in Piscataway, NJ as Rutgers again used stifling defense to win 45-43. LSU trailed 44-42 with a little more than two minutes to play. Senior guard Erica White made one of two free throws to close the Rutgers lead to one point. LSU had several opportunities to take the lead in the final minutes, but were unable to take an advantage. The Lady Tigers’ best chance came with under a minute to play when senior center Sylvia Fowles was stripped in the lane with 15 seconds to play forcing an LSU foul. Fowles appeared to have post position on Rutgers junior center Kia Vaughn, but help defender Matee Ajavon knocked the ball from Fowles to give the Scarlet Knights possession forcing LSU to foul. Sophomore guard Epiphanny Prince made one of two free throws to extend the Scarlet Knights lead to two. Senior guard Quianna Chaney had an opportunity to win the game for LSU, but the Baton Rouge native missed a three-pointer as time expired to seal the Rutgers win. Chaney led LSU in scoring with 16 points. Fowles added 13 points, while also pulling down 12 rebounds. “We played well today, but just could not get over the hump,” said LSU head coach Van Chancellor in a news release. “I don’t think we could have played a better defensive game, but we just could not find a way to score on the offensive end.” Vaughn led the Scarlett Knights with 13 points. The Lady Tigers were behind the majority of the first half, thanks to Rutgers’ swarming defense. LSU was also without White for 15 minutes of the first half because of early foul trouble. As a result, LSU had problems finding a first-half rhythm, having nine turnovers to only four assists. Fowles, Chaney and senior guard RaShonta LeBlanc were the only Lady Tigers to score in the first half of play, as Rutgers took a 26-24 halftime lead. Fowles and Chaney led LSU in scoring in the first half with nine points, while LeBlanc added six points for the Lady Tigers’offense.
The beginning of the second half was rough for Fowles. The Miami native missed a dunk attempt with just under 16 minutes to play, then left the game with a face injury a minute later after being inadvertently elbowed by a Rutgers defender going for a rebound. The Scarlet Knights began the second half hot extending its lead to 38-30 with more than 12 minutes to play. LSU responded with a 10-4 run over nine minutes to close the Rutgers lead to just two points with more than three minutes to play.