The LSU Lady Tigers went down to the wire on Thursday as they faced the No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats and ultimately fell 64-60 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game came down to the final possessions. LSU outscored Kentucky in two out of the four quarters.
The thing that cost LSU the game was an issue that the Lady Tigers are too familiar with — they got out to a slow start.
LSU lost the first quarter, being outscored 21-14. They followed that by winning next two quarters.
They were able to dig themselves out of the hole, where they trailed by as many as 16 in the first quarter, and even took the lead late in the fourth quarter.
However, with the game tied at 60 with 19 seconds left, Kentucky hit a big shot from behind the arc to take a late lead.
In a game where the Kentucky Wildcats did everything they could to limit the offensive productivity of LSU’s two biggest threats in junior forward Ayana Mitchell and sophomore guard Khayla Pointer, LSU got career nights from some secondary scoring options.
Mitchell was still able to finish with another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. However, Pointer only finished with 1 point.
Sophomore center Faustine Aifuwa was dominant in the paint, scoring a career-high 19 points. She also added 9 rebounds. Junior guard Jaelyn Richard-Harris scored a career high 16 points, shooting 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Three of them came on three straight possessions late in the first quarter.
“My coaches and my teammates have been on me all week,” Richard-Harris said. “The only way for a shooter to get out of a shooters slump is to keep shooting the ball. I had all of the confidence behind me. I got in the gym before the game and I knew i was ready. They kept finding me and i was knocking them down for them.”
Aifuwa’s career high in scoring comes in the game after being held scoreless against the loss to South Carolina. She had a chip on her shoulder approaching the game against Kentucky.
“I had an off game,” Aifuwa said. “I wasn’t producing for my team. I felt like I let them down. I just knew that this game I had to step up and produce and be the big that they needed me to be.”
It was the We Back Pat game, honoring the late women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt, who was lost in 2016 to Alzheimer’s. Players, coaches, and fans dressed in purple to honor Summitt and bring awareness to the disease.
LSU coach Nikki Fargas played for Tennessee under coach Summitt from 1990 to 1994. She also coached under her for two seasons.
“The awareness that she has brought to Alzheimer’s and dementia has been unbelievable,” Fargas said. “The support of the athletic world behind her has been huge. It is a great opportunity for us. We call it the We Back Pat because we do back her in this cause and she knows that upstairs.”
LSU is preparing to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday in Tuscaloosa.