LSU junior guard Katherine Graham did about all she could in an attempt to secure a Lady Tigers victory against Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon.Graham became the second Lady Tiger ever to record a triple-double and forced the game into triple overtime with a clutch game-tying 3-pointer at the end of the second overtime.But the third-year player missed a potential game-tying free throw in triple overtime and came short on a potential game-winning jumper off the rebound, and the Rebels (15-8, 6-4 SEC) escaped with a 102-101 win.”We fought as hard as we could fight,” said LSU coach Van Chancellor. “They made some incredible shots in the end. That’s just the way it goes.”Ole Miss sophomore center Kayla Holloway hit a layup with 11 seconds in triple overtime to give Ole Miss the final lead.No. 19 LSU (15-7, 4-6) came back in the second half after being down by 14 at one point in the first half.  “I felt we lost the game early,” Chancellor said. “Late in the game we did all we could.”The Lady Tigers forced overtime when sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett made two free throws and Ole Miss senior guard Elizabeth Robertson missed a jumper with one second remaining.LSU sophomore point guard Destini Hughes nailed a jumper with one second to tie the game again to end the first overtime. Unlikely heroes emerged in the second overtime as Hughes made a 3-pointer and freshman guard Bianca Lutley hit a jumper. Graham hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the second overtime to force the team’s first triple-overtime game of the season and first since Feb. 15, 2003, against Santa Barbara.Lutley and Hughes each landed another 3-pointer in the third overtime, but it wasn’t enough as Graham’s potential game-winner hit the rim and fell short.”Thank goodness Hughes and Lutley played, but we didn’t lose the game [in overtime],” Chancellor said.The Lady Tigers shot a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the overtime periods, but the Rebels still found a way to win.”Ole Miss made bigger plays than we did, and that’s how the game came down to it,” Barrett said.LSU senior guard Allison Hightower, Barrett and Graham dominated offensively for LSU, which shot 46 percent in the second half after only making 28.6 percent of its shots in the first. The three Lady Tigers accumulated 74 of LSU’s 101 points in the game.Hightower scored 31 points, one shy of her career high, before limping off the court during the second overtime.”There were a lot of things that could have turned the game either way without it going into overtime,” Graham said. “Hopefully next time I get a triple-double, we can win.”The Rebels ended a three-game losing skid as LSU fell for the sixth time in its last eight games. The rebounding battle went to Ole Miss, who had six more boards than LSU.”The difference in the game was we couldn’t rebound the ball,” Chancellor said. “We were up by three twice, and we just had to get a defensive rebound.”The Lady Tigers did take care of the ball. LSU only committed eight turnovers while forcing 17 from the Rebels.Senior guard Bianca Thomas led Ole Miss with 29 points. “It is heart-breaking for either team,” said Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner. “There are just so many moments that we stepped up within the overtime period.”The Lady Tigers will travel to Florida on Thursday for another SEC tilt.
 
 
 
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