Remember how the LSU men’s basketball team snapped an 82-game home winning streak against Louisiana opponents by losing to Nicholls State on Nov. 16?
The women’s basketball team fared similarly Tuesday night against Tulane. The Lady Tigers (2-3) had won 33 consecutive games overall against in-state foes, but the Green Wave was not afraid as they knocked off LSU, 54-52, in the PMAC.
LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor was utterly distraught after the loss, saying he wasn’t even sure if his team was playing with confidence. The Lady Tigers displayed the same shaky shooting that has plagued them all season, and Chancellor added the team didn’t seem focused.
“Right now I’m really struggling with my team,” Chancellor said. “I’m just really struggling going from the timeout to the floor, more than any team I’ve coached in a long time. We called three plays they’ve been running to the right side all year, and they run to the left side. At the end I told a player defensively whatever you can do, do this right here, and she did the opposite.”
LSU had one last chance in the final 17 seconds of the game trailing, 51-49. Freshman guard Jeanne Kenney missed a jumper in the paint that would have tied the score, and with nine seconds to play following two free throws by Tulane (4-0), sophomore guard Adrienne Webb sank her fourth 3-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to one point.
Tulane guard Olivia Grayson then made one of two free throws that made it 54-52, giving LSU one last chance when junior guard Destini Hughes drove to the basket and was fouled with 0.3 seconds on the clock.
But she missed her first free throw, quashing LSU’s final gasp.
“With seven seconds left, if we have a shot, then the goal is to attack,” Kenney said. “Those free throws [Hughes] missed did not lose us the game. [Tulane] definitely outplayed us in the second half. They wanted the ball more, and it showed.”
All-Southeastern Conference junior forward LaSondra Barrett was not with the team Tuesday as she went home to attend her grandmother’s funeral. It was Barrett’s first time missing the starting lineup since last year’s Tulane game on Nov. 25, 2009. Junior Courtney Jones started in Barrett’s place and shot 0-for-6 for zero points in 28 minutes.
It was uncertain if Webb would even play Tuesday after she cut her eye in Monday’s practice. She reached double figures in scoring again with 16 points in 28 minutes.
But LSU shot just 6-of-12 from the free throw line compared to 11-of-19 by Tulane. LSU again struggled offensively, shooting just 19-of-54 for 35.2 percent. Tulane was actually not much different at 19-of-60, but LSU lost ample chances for rebounds, as Tulane came away with 16 offensive boards.
LSU sophomore guard Bianca Lutley did not dress out Tuesday, and Chancellor said after the game Lutley was suspended for the game but would return today.
“Sometimes you have to have rules, and sometimes people don’t [follow them], so she sat out one game,” Chancellor said.
 
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Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]