The LSU women’s basketball team has won three games in a row well before the bell sounded and the game clock struck zero.The recent streak has been a change of pace for the Lady Tigers, whose previous two losses came in overtime, as No. 23 LSU (18-7, 7-6) handled Vanderbilt, 55-39, Thursday night in the “Pink Zone Game.”The Lady Tigers’ third straight win comes on the heels of routs against Florida, 70-30, and Auburn, 75-51.LSU’s defense smothered the No. 25 Commodores (18-8, 7-6), holding Vanderbilt to its lowest total in program history.”This was a must-win for us NCAA-wise,” said LSU coach Van Chancellor. “To hold them to 39 points was a great job for this team.”LSU limited the Commodores to 37 percent shooting from the floor and 16.7 percent from 3-point range. The Lady Tigers also out-rebounded Vanderbilt, 34-28.”We had five offensive rebounds, and three of them were by our point guard,” said Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb. “If you never get any second chance points, then it’s going to kill you.”The win gives LSU 200 total Southeastern Conference wins (200-127), the third conference team to do so after Tennessee and Georgia.”To win a game like we won was really big,” Chancellor said. “It was a great night for us.”LSU now owns a share of fourth place in the SEC after its first home victory in its last four tries.”We wanted to reclaim our house back,” said LSU senior guard Allison Hightower. “We owed it to our fans, our families and everyone who comes out here and supports us.”LSU is once again putting together a streak to close the season. Last year the Lady Tigers won their last five games to tie for second place in the SEC.”We’re moving up,” Chancellor said. “Where we are going to finish, I don’t know.”Hightower said the difference in the three games has been the team effort.”People came off the bench and stepped up,” Hightower said. “We wanted to make sure we out-hustled them and had more effort than they did.”Junior guard Katherine Graham’s game-high 15 points led four Lady Tigers in double figures.Graham was honored before the game for her triple-double against Ole Miss and came close to a double-double with nine rebounds against Vanderbilt.”She’s been very steady, hitting wide-open shots and making good decisions,” Balcomb said. “Graham’s the most improved player I’ve seen from this team last year.”Sophomore forwards Courtney Jones and LaSondra Barrett contributed 11 points, while Hightower recorded 13 of her own.”That’s how you beat good teams,” Graham said. “All of us chipped in … That was the difference.”LSU sophomore forward Swayze Black started her third straight game and took down five boards.Chancellor wore white and pink tennis shoes and the LSU players sported pink shoelaces during the “Pink Zone Game.” Breast cancer survivors were honored at halftime, and children of cancer patients were acknowledged prior to the opening tipoff. LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey and his wife Sherie, a breast cancer survivor, have pledged to donate $1 to cancer research in Baton Rouge for every LSU student at the game. LSU will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., on Monday to meet the No. 5 Lady Volunteers at 6 p.m.The final two games of the season are back at the PMAC. The Lady Tigers will host Arkansas on Thursday and then Mississippi State on Feb. 28.—-Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]