The No. 10-seed Hartford women’s basketball team had the lead for exactly 2 minutes, 47 seconds in its NCAA tournament first-round game against No. 7-seed LSU on Saturday.Then the score was tied at 4-4 for another 57 seconds before the Lady Tigers (21-9, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) broke the game open with a 17-0 run en route to a 60-39 victory against the Hawks (27-5, 16-0 America East) in the first game of the Memphis Region in Durham, N.C.LSU led by as many as 29 points on the day, and the SEC’s No. 1 defense held Hartford to 29.6 percent shooting and 17.6 percent from 3-point range.”It was very important for us to contain them,” LSU senior guard Allison Hightower said in the NCAA’s postgame press conference. “Our jumpers weren’t falling, so we had to step it up on defense and do the little things until the jumpers started to fall.”Hartford never cut the deficit to closer than 11 points, and LSU further cemented its lead with a 13-0 run midway through the second half.Hartford coach Jennifer Rizzotti said in the press conference the Hawks worked hard in practice to prepare for the Lady Tigers’ defensive attack, but she said it often takes “real game experience” to get a sense of their toughness.”It’s tough to simulate a team like LSU and what they can do defensively,” Rizzotti said. “We settled down a little bit better in the second half, and we did get some open looks. It was a matter of guys needing to step up and knock them down.”LSU coach Van Chancellor said in the press conference one key to his team’s victory was the ability to contain Hartford senior forward/center Diana Delva during the game.Delva finished 5-of-9 from the field for 12 points Saturday, 2.5 below her season average and was the only Hartford player to score in double figures.”We said the two things we have to do to win the game are to double [Delva] every time she touched the ball and rebound,” Chancellor said. “[After our first timeout] we were able to adjust because we didn’t have our positioning right. She is a very good player who I think could play in the SEC any day.”LSU sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett led all scorers with 20 points on the day, and Hightower and sophomore forward Courtney Jones also reached double figures with 10 points each.Barrett said the team’s strategy to beat Hartford was to “keep pressing.””Keep pressing is a term we use for everybody to become aware, whether we are up or we’re down, to keep doing whatever we are doing,” Barrett said. “It is just a motivational key.”Rizzotti said the loss made the Hawks realize they squandered an opportunity to capitalize on their productive season, tying the highest seed in team history at No. 10.”I’d like to think that my competitiveness has rubbed off on them … but they’re still pretty disappointed,” Rizzotti said. “It’s basically about missed shots, turning the ball over, not rotating the ball and lack of intensity. We didn’t go in the locker room and say, ‘Ra-ra,’ and ‘Congratulations,’ but we talked about how we’re going to be better.”Chancellor said the Lady Tigers faced quite a challenge against the America East champions, and he said they will need that same dominant play if they hope to advance in the tournament.”Anytime you win a NCAA tournament game, you feel veryfortunate,” Chancellor said. “I thought Hartford would reflect [Rizzotti] — hard-nosed and tough. They had a great year. We are very fortunate to win.”LSU’s second-round game is tonight at 6 p.m. against No. 2-seeded Duke, who knocked off No. 15-seeded Hampton, 72-37, on Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
 
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