The No. 20 LSU women’s basketball team held a slim lead through most of Tuesday’s game, but Northwestern (4-0) sunk the Lady Tigers, 44-43, with go-ahead free throws in the waning seconds.
The Lady Tigers (3-2) led by as many as nine points with 11:29 left in the second half but faltered on offense down the stretch, failing to make a basket during the final 3:52.
“We talk about being a 40-minute team, but tonight we obviously didn’t play for 40 minutes,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “I think we had 15 minutes of good play.”
LSU, down by one with nine seconds remaining, had the ball and a chance to take the lead. After a drive and dish, sophomore forward Theresa Plaisance took an open three, but the shot sailed out of bounds. Northwestern inbounded the ball and held it as the game’s final second ticked away.
There was no carry-over from the Lady Tigers’ offensive explosion against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday night, and LSU paid the price.
“We had some wide-open looks, and we didn’t shoot the ball extremely well,” Caldwell said.
The Lady Tigers shot only 30.2 percent from the field and went 0-for-8 on three-point shots.
Senior forward LaSondra Barrett said the Lady Tigers had their fair share of open looks but failed to sink them.
“Those are shots that we have to knock down,” Barrett said.
Barrett led LSU with 11 points but was hampered by foul trouble that limited her to 19 minutes on the night.
“It’s frustrating to be in foul trouble, not being out there,” Barrett said. “But that doesn’t have anything to do with rhythm. It’s all mental, and today was a excitement.”
Caldwell said a contributing factor in the loss was the Lady Tigers’ attitude for much of the game.
“I didn’t see a team really bond and gel together when it needed to, and that reared its ugly head,” Caldwell said. “We can’t keep playing this