Basketball is a game of runs.
When the clock hit zero Monday night in Wichita, Kan., the No. 20 LSU women’s basketball team (1-0) had run away with a 64-56 win against Wichita State (1-1) to officially kick-start the Nikki Caldwell era at LSU.
“I will give Wichita State a lot of credit because they really came out and they focused in on their game plan,” Caldwell said in a postgame radio interview. “I’m proud of [LSU] for staying tough, for hanging in there and for coming out with the g big shots when they needed to,” Caldwell said. “We obviously had some good defensive stops. Once we did give ourselves a chance, we were span data-scayt_word=”efficient.”” data-scaytid=”5″>efficient.”
Wichita State attempted a record 37 3-pointers against LSU — the most ever attempted against the Lady Tigers — but hit just 11 of them.
LSU shot 61.5 percent from the field, including an impressive 66.7 percent from 3-point range, led by sophomore guard Jeanne Kenney, who dropped four 3-pointers, racked up a team-leading 16 points and five assists. She missed only two shots all game.
“Jeanne has a great disposition about herself on the floor,” Caldwell said. “When we needed a big basket, she answered. She’s someone we’re going to look for to extend the defense. But also on the other end, she’s a very smart and crafty player and plays defensively solid for area.”
LSU will take its young, unblemished record to a tough early-season test Wednesday night when it plays host to No. 14 Georgetown for the team’s home opener.
“This group will learn from this and be ready for Georgetown on Wednesday,” Caldwell said. “Georgetown is a very similar team [to Wichita State], where their guard play is very strong. It’s special when you get to go home and you get to play in front of your fans in your comfort