With the score tied at 36 and less than 20 seconds to play, Mississippi State women’s basketball coach Sharon Fanning wanted the ball in junior guard Armelie Lumanu’s hands.And with regulation coming to a close, Lumanu delivered, taking a pass from the wing and driving past LSU junior guard Allison Hightower to deliver a game-winning layup as time expired to give Mississippi State a 38-36 win — its first ever win victory Baton Rouge.”We definitely wanted the last shot,” Fanning said. “So we put it [Lumanu’s] hands on penetration . . . She made a big play.”Lumanu’s basket overshadowed what was a poor offensive game for both teams.Mississippi State shot just 28 percent from the floor for the game, and LSU had six more turnovers than field goals for the game.”This may not go down as one of the sharpest games in terms of execution,” Fanning said. “But it would probably have to go down as one of the most exciting.”Mississippi State took an early 7-6 lead 10 minutes into the game.The Lady Tigers were unable to crack the Lady Bulldogs’ zone defense throughout the first half and shot just 9-of-28 from the field in the opening half.”They played a little tandem zone,” said LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor. “It’s something we’ve seen all year. But we just couldn’t make a shot.” But LSU’s man-to-man defense was just as smothering, forcing eight turnovers in the half and containing the Lady Bulldogs to just 25 percent shooting.But LSU took a 22-17 lead into halftime thanks to rebounding and paint scoring.LSU out-rebounded Mississippi State 23-16 in the half and 49-37 for the game.Freshman forward Ayana Dunning hit the boards for the Lady Tigers and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with nine points.The Bulldogs solved LSU’s man-to-man attack in the fist 12 minutes of the second half and used an 17-9 run to take a 32-29 lead with 8:06 to play.LSU missed 13 of their first 16 shots in the second half.But LSU was able to muster offense at the foul line, getting into the bonus midway through the second half.With shots from the field not falling, LSU was to overcome a seven-minute field goal drought thanks to five free-throws to take a 34-33 lead with 2:48 to play.Mississippi State committed 20 fouls in the game compared to 10 for LSU, which allowed the Lady Tigers to outscore the lady Bulldogs 9-4 at the free-throw line.LSU freshman forward LaSondra Barrett broke the field goal drought with a layup to give LSU a 36-33 lead.But Lady Bulldogs junior guard Alexis Rack tied the game on the next possession, hitting a contested 3-pointer with the shot-clock expiring. Hightower and Barrett each led LSU in scoring with 10.The Lady Tigers return to the floor on Sunday when they travel to Lexington to take on Kentucky.The Lady Wildcats had Thursday off after being defeated, 52-45, by Mississippi State on Sunday. Sophomore forward Victoria Dunlap and Eleia Roddy lead an interior-oriented Lady Wildcats offense and average a combined 24 points and 17 rebounds per game.LSU has dominated its matchup with Kentucky in recent history. The Lady Tigers have won the past 11 meetings between the two teams, including two regular season victories and 66-49 win in the Southeastern Conference Tournament last season. Hightower said the Lady Tigers focus this weekend will be playing with poise — something the Arlington, Texas native said LSU struggled with against Mississippi State.”I feel like we were kind of holding back,” she said. “We were being real tentative. We were playing like we didn’t want to make a mistake and we just have to come out of that, because you can’t play basketball and not make a mistake.”——Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]