There was a festive atmosphere in the PMAC before the LSU women’s basketball team’s opening tip off against No. 9 Florida on Sunday afternoon.The Lady Tigers’ home arena was filled with pink during the 13th annual Pack the PMAC game to promote breast cancer awareness. A crowd of 5,758 was on hand for the nationally televised game.And LSU (13-9, 6-4) kept the environment alive when the game began, going on a 16-2 run in the first 10 minutes en route to a 66-47 win against the Gators (22-4, 8-3).Junior guard Allison Hightower opened the scoring with a quick layup 12 seconds into the game, and Florida senior guard Marshae Dotson answered with a layup of her own 34 seconds later to tie the score.Those were the last points the Gators would score until 9:22 left in the first half.”I’m really shocked,” LSU coach Van Chancellor said about the Lady Tigers’ dominating start. “If you give Bob Starkey a week to prepare for a game, he’s hard to beat. I thought we’d find some holes, but I didn’t think we’d hold them like we did.”Florida finished just 32 percent shooting from the field, including 1-of-12 from 3-point range. LSU shot 48 percent and converted 80 percent of its free throws.The Gators’ 47 points were their lowest scoring output all season long. Their previous season low came in a 61-45 win against Georgia.Hightower, who led all scorers with 21 points and also had five steals, said it was important for the team to not have another second-half lapse.”We’ve had so many close games here that we’ve lost,” Hightower said. “We’re a team to look out for. To get a big win against a top team like Florida feels so good. Today was a complete package. We played defense, and we also knocked down good shots.”The Gators occasionally got a spark from Dotson and Florida senior guard Sha Brooks, who scored a combined 27 points, but the closest they cut into LSU’s lead was 8 points.”I’ve been hearing that all week — Brooks, Brooks, Brooks,” said LSU sophomore guard Latear Eason, who was matched against the Florida guard throughout the game. “So I just wanted to come in here today and stop her. I knew she was a big factor in them winning some big games this year.”LSU senior forward Kristen Morris continued her defensive prowess, totaling seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 32 minutes. Florida coach Amanda Butler said defense was the factor that pushed LSU over the top.”LSU played a great ball game. Obviously we did not,” Butler said. “We’re the best offensive team on some nights, and LSU has proven they’re the best defensive team in the conference. In this conference, going and playing on someone else’s home court is the toughest thing to do, and we really weren’t ready for that challenge.”The Lady Tigers never trailed in a game Chancellor said was a signature win for his young team in its push for an NCAA tournament bid.”We beat the No. 9 team in the country,” he said. “This is a great win for us — a great win for the team, our spirits. We beat a really good team by 19 points.”Freshman guard LaSondra Barrett scored in double figures for the 12th time this season with her 11-point effort, and Eason finished with a game-high six assists.Morris said it was good for the Lady Tigers to “catch a win” against Florida and build momentum for their next game Thursday against Georgia and their last two games to close the season.”We knew Florida was good scoring-wise,” Morris said. “We wanted to make sure if they punched, we punched back harder.”—Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]