For more than 75 years, there has been a mystery as to how many licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop. Senior forward Quianna Chaney and senior guard RaShonta LeBlanc may be the next to attempt to find the answer following No. 5 LSU’s 86-38 victory against Samford Friday and a 73-54 quarterfinal victory against TCU Sunday afternoon. “I hope I get a tootsie pop,” Chaney said following Friday’s game. “Coach Chancellor looks at the stat sheet, and if he likes what you see, you get a tootsie pop.” Chaney scored a career-high 25 points in Friday’s win and followed up her effort with a 14-point performance Sunday against the Lady Frogs. Senior RaShonta LeBlanc scored five points for the Lady Tigers Sunday and pulled down a career-high nine rebounds. LeBlanc also limited Lady Frogs All-American guard Adrianne Ross to just 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Chancellor said LeBlanc was the team’s most valuable player Sunday, earning the tootsie pop for the game. The LSU offense struggled to find a rhythm early in Sunday’s game partially because the team was without senior guard Erica White. White was suspended from the team for one game for an undisclosed violation. “[The suspension] is done,” said LSU coach Van Chancellor. “That’s forgotten, and we’re going on.” LSU senior center Sylvia Fowles battled foul trouble for the second consecutive game, picking up her second foul with 14 minutes to play in the first half. In Friday’s game, Fowles was also limited because of foul trouble, playing under 10 first half minutes. Without the All-American, LSU went on a 28-15 run, using pressure defense to take a 35-28 lead halftime lead. Sophomore Allison Hightower led the Lady Tigers with nine first half points, all coming from behind the arc. Senior Khalilah Mitchell also added seven points and Fowles pitched in five points before leaving with her second foul. Chaney and Fowles led LSU in the second half, scoring a combined 23 second-half points to keep the Lady Tigers ahead. Fowles led LSU in scoring for the game with 16 points and six rebounds, while Chaney added 14 points after a poor shooting first half. “I give credit to my teammates for telling me to keep shooting and to get to the basket,” Chaney said. “In the first half, I was off, and I was trying my best to help my team. And in the second half, I just settled down, took my time and started making my shots.” With the win, LSU advanced to the semifinals of the Preseason NIT Tournament, where LSU will next meet No. 17 Michigan State. LSU opened the weekend in stylish fashion in their first-round victory over the Samford thanks to Chaney’s hot shooting. Fowles and senior forward Ashley Thomas both played limited first half minutes because of foul trouble, but the Tigers answered with a 25-14 run to take a 44-19 halftime lead. “Once we got Sylvia Fowles out of the game, I think that is when it turned for them,” said Samford coach Mike Morris. “It looked like they played with more energy.” Sophomore guard Allison Hightower and Chaney paced the LSU offense with 14 and 12 points respectively in the first half. LSU showcased a full-court pressure defense throughout the first half, forcing 15 turnovers, limiting Samford to under 30 percent shooting. Chancellor said he has been tinkering with Chaney’s technique to try to get better results from the Baton Rouge native. “One of my former players that I coached in high school men’s basketball was at practice playing with Chaney,” Chancellor said. “That kid was a great shooter, and we were just talking about Chaney. And he said ‘Coach I can’t believe you are going to let her shoot the ball so flat.’ And she heard that. So we started working with her shooting the ball up.”
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