Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb challenged the Lady Commodores to change their style of play in the second half of her team’s game with LSU in the Southeastern Conference tournament Saturday.
Vanderbilt trailed, 26-23, at the half.”They’re tough, but we need to play our style in the second half,” Balcomb told her team at the break. The Lady Commodores answered their coach’s challenge and held LSU to just 21 second half points to spark a 61-47 Vanderbilt win. LSU controlled the majority of the opening half and took a three-point halftime lead. Freshman Courtney Jones led the Lady Tigers in the half and for the game with 10 points. LSU’s defense contained the Lady Commodores to just 35 percent in the half. But the Lady Commodores switched to a pressure defense in the second half and caused problems for the LSU offense and forced 20 turnovers. “It was a tale of two halves,” said LSU assistant coach Kenya Larkin-Landers in a postgame radio interview. “First half we executed for the most part and did what we set out to do in our game plan. In the second half, it was clear that our focus level wasn’t as high and we just didn’t come out and execute like we wanted to.” With the loss, LSU is now at the mercy of the NCAA Tournament selection committee. The Tigers are widely expected to be selected to the Field of 64 – something Larkins-Landers said is a tribute to the progression the Lady Tigers have made throughout the season. “Our girls have done a great job, winning six in a row and coming out and playing so hard and doing what they need to do to make sure we get into the NCAA tournament,” she said. “We will go home and go back to work and really make sure that come tournament time, we’re sharp.”
 
 
 
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