The LSU women’s basketball team hasn’t seen live action against another team since their loss to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament.The No. 9 Lady Tigers got the chance to shed the offseason rust Tuesday night against Loyola-New Orleans and beat the Wolfpack, 78-43, in an exhibition game at the PMAC.LSU only had a 22-20 lead with 5:46 to play in the first half. The Wolfpack shot 44.4 percent from the field in the half, and Loyola senior point guard Trenell Smith had 12 points in the first period.”We were pretty rusty the first half,” said LSU senior guard Allison Hightower. “Every first game, you’re going to have nerves; you’re going to have jitters.”But the second half was a different story, with LSU outscoring Loyola, 44-18.”This is the tale of two halves,” said LSU coach Van Chancellor. “The first half was the worst defense I’ve ever seen us play in my three years at LSU. In the second half, we really picked it up and began to play much better.”The highlight of the first half for the Lady Tigers was the play of sophomore forward Courtney Jones.Jones began the game with the first points for the Lady Tigers and kept up her hot hand, scoring eight points in the first 10 minutes.”I got a lot of open looks,” Jones said. “They came out with a 2-3 zone, and we had a lot of practice against that. I just got in the gaps and worked my way around it.”Jones said her return to health played a role in her success against Loyola. Jones had knee surgery during the offseason.”I wanted to become a better rebounder and be as aggressive as I could be, so I had to get my knee strong,” Jones said.Hightower led the Lady Tigers with 18 points. The 2010 National Player of the Year Candidate said the team tightened up its defense in the second half.
“The second half, we were just more aggressive,” Hightower said. “We didn’t just let them drive where they wanted to.”Chancellor played his reserves once LSU opened up its lead in the second half. Thirteen LSU players saw the court during the game. “The group I was satisfied with was the [junior forward] Taylor Booze, [junior forward Jasmine] Nelson, [sophomore forward Swayze] Black and [freshman guard] Bianca Lutley group,” Chancellor said. “I was really happy with that group.”Nelson scored eight points, while Booze and Black contributed six points each. LSU also hit the boards hard against Loyola, out-rebounding the Wolfpack, 43-23.”They did a great job of coming out and playing, taking care of the ball and shooting the ball well,” Hightower said. “They did everything coach asked them to do.”LSU sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett did not start but entered the game in the first half and had three rebounds of her own.Last season’s SEC Co-Freshman of the Year showed no signs of a shoulder injury she sustained while playing for the U19 World Championship Team during the summer. She had six points in 11 minutes.Chancellor was not satisfied even though the Lady Tigers won by 35 points.”To be a pretty good team, we’re OK,” Chancellor said. “To be a team that’s been picked to win this league, to be ranked in the Top 15 in the country — we’ve got a long, long, long way to go.”The Lady Tigers will host Centenary on Nov. 15 for the regular season opener.—-Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]