Things did not look good for the LSU women’s basketball team four games into the season.The Lady Tigers were 1-3 and had just lost to Middle Tennessee State in the PMAC.But despite the slow start, LSU played in the second round of the NCAA tournament four months later and gave the eventual national runner-up Louisville one of its toughest tests of the tournament.The Lady Tigers were eliminated by the Cardinals, 62-52, but LSU coach Van Chancellor was pleased with the outcome of the season.”They did a remarkable job of keeping their confidence up,” Chancellor said. “When I look at what these kids have done, it’s been unbelievable.”The Lady Tigers were stuck near the middle of the Southeastern Conference standings and were on the bubble of the NCAA tournament with just five games left in the season.But the Lady Tigers closed the season playing their best basketball and beat No. 9 Florida, No. 18 Tennessee and NCAA   tournament team Georgia to make it to the Big Dance.LSU beat Wisconsin-Green Bay in the opening round of the tourney.”Reaching the final 32 with this team is almost like going to the Final Four,” Chancellor said. “At one point this season, we thought we’d be out playing golf today if you want the truth.”This season marked the end of the LSU career of senior Kristen Morris. She emerged as one of the team’s primary players in the second half of the season.Morris averaged 6 points and four rebounds per game and was the Lady Tigers’ best interior defender.The Lathrup Village, Mich., native said she hopes she instilled the importance of the LSU tradition into her younger teammates in her final season in Baton Rouge.”I just hope I taught my teammates the importance of wearing this uniform,” she said. “And the importance of continuing the winning tradition that we have here at LSU.”LSU junior guard Allison Hightower is one Lady Tiger who appeared to take note of Morris’s message.The Arlington, Texas, native led LSU in scoring, assists, steals and blocks.But Hightower played her best basketball of the season when the games meant the most and averaged 17 points per game in the final six games of the season, up from the 14.9 points per game she averaged during the season.Hightower’s play established her as one of the best players in the SEC and earned her the respect of one of the most respected people in basketball.”When you have a player who brings that level of energy, it raises everyone else’s energy,” said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt following LSU’s, 63-61, win against the Lady Vols. “She’s a fighter and a competitor, and I think that’s something we miss and they benefit from having.”——Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]