There was a festive atmosphere in the PMAC before the LSU women’s basketball team’s opening tipoff against No. 9 Florida on Sunday afternoon.The Lady Tigers’ home arena was filled with pink in the 13th annual Pack the PMAC game to promote breast cancer awareness, and a crowd of 5,758 was on hand for the nationally televised game.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 remained 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.”
 
 
 
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