The LSU Lady Tigers enjoyed a huge Southeastern Conference victory at home as they defeated the Missouri Tigers 61-51 Monday night.
This win comes after a big loss at home by the hands of No. 6 ranked Mississippi State by 33 points at home last Thursday.
After the loss, players and coaches of the Lady Tigers were questioning how seriously they took the games and their opponents. They seemed to have addressed.some of those concerns with their style of play against Mizzou.
More responsibility was placed on the players to do more of the scouting reports and watch film of the other team.
“The plan was for the team to take more ownership,” LSU coach Nikki Fargas said. “We gave them blank scouting reports and had them fill them in. It is really about the players and what they see. My lenses are a little bit different than theirs. We wanted to give them more accountability for the scouting. The more they own it, the more they are going to do it.”
She said that she made them decide what to work on in practice. They were in charge of a lot more.
“Sometimes you feel like you are spoon feeding them,” Fargas said. “I wanted to get away from that.”
Junior forward Ayana Mitchell said that the changes were internal, as the Lady Tigers looked themselves in the mirror following their recent skid.
“It was something we had to fix,” Mitchell said. “This was when we had to make a decision as a team. What direction are we going to go in?”
LSU had four players score in double digits. Mitchell led all scorers with 17 points. She completed a double-double by adding 12 rebounds.
The Lady Tigers also got some good scoring production from Sophomore center Faustine Aifuwa, sophomore guard Khayla Pointer and senior guard Shanice Norton as they all added 10 points apiece.
Mizzou’s leading scorer was Sophie Cunningham, who put up 14 points. However, she spent much of the game on the bench in foul trouble.
LSU managed to foul out two of Mizzou’s players and had one a foul away. They had played them in a way that kept them from being as aggressive as they wanted to be.
“We wanted to make sure our help defense was there early,” Fargas said. “Mitchell got a couple of charges there. That was key. Offensively our patience to really try to attack and be aggressive, i thought that really played well for us and not just jump shooting the basketball. We were very intentional on trying to get the ball inside.”
Shanice Norton also recorded her 500th career point Monday night against Mizzou. The humble senior only had her teammates to credit for the milestone.
“My teammates are finding me,” Norton said. “They are working hard. I might as well knock down the shot.”
The LSU Lady Tigers prepare to finish out the three-game homestand as they host Arkansas on Thursday.