Whatever LSU coach Pokey Chatman said in her pregame and halftime pep talks works.
The No. 8 Lady Tigers (19-2, 4-1) defeated the University of Arkansas (18-4, 3-3) 70-53 thanks to 13-3 and 8-0 runs to start the first and second halves.
“I thought offensively we executed in our post exchange,” Chatman said. “We changed the triangle, we made substitutions, and I thought the team was locked into the adjustments we needed to make.”
LSU jumped out of the gate quickly, taking an early 16-4 lead over the Lady Razorbacks with 6 early points from junior center Sylvia Fowles.
Arkansas trimmed the lead to 22-16 with five minutes to play in the first half thanks to a 7 point surge from freshman guard Donica Cosby. Cosby came into the game as Arkansas’ second leading scorer, averaging just under 12 points per game.
Arkansas’ leading scorer, junior forward Lauren Ervin scored 12 points to lead the Razorbacks in the first half.
LSU closed the first half on a 10-5 run to take a 32-21 halftime lead.
Junior guard Quianna Chaney, nicknamed “Q,” scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in the first half.
“It is the evolution of Q,” Chatman said. “I think she is continuing to maintain consistency in some things offensively.”
Chaney said her performance would not have been possible without the help of her teammates.
“All of [my points] go to Ashley [Thomas] and Sylvia [Fowles],” she said. “Ashley came out and knocked down her first two shots, so they had to guard her. [With] Sylvia being the big beast in the post, they have to double her, so that leaves me open on the outside.”
The Lady Tigers held Arkansas to just 34 percent shooting in the first half, while scoring 12 points off 11 Arkansas turnovers.
LSU started up where it left off to begin the second half, going on a 8-0 run to take a 40-21 lead.
Junior forward Thomas scored 5 of her 11 points in the first minute of the second half, causing Arkansas coach Susie Gardner to take an early timeout.
“We knew that going into halftime that we had chances to blow it up,” Thomas said. “We knew that if we started the second half good, that it could separate it a little bit.”
Gardner said LSU’s run was not what the Lady Razorbacks planned coming out of halftime.
“It was a worst case scenario,” Gardner said. “Our last conversation during timeout was, ‘Let’s get a stop and cut it below 10.'”
Chatman said Thomas’ offensive play inspired the team coming out of the locker room.
“You like to see that,” she said. “Ashley is always going to give the defense, but something about scoring a basket validates stuff for kids.”
Another second half run stretched the Lady Tiger lead to 26 points with five minutes to play in the game.
Fowles scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the game, giving her 14 double-doubles for the season.
The win also extended the Lady Tigers home court winning streak to 41 games, which is the longest in the nation.
—–Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]