The LSU Lady Tiger basketball team won their third straight game thanks to a dominating performance in the last ten minutes to beat Kentucky Thursday 75-59.
The 24th-ranked Lady Tigers (11-6) have now won the last four meetings with the Lady Wildcats (8-11, 1-6 SEC), who are now in the midst of a five-game losing streak.
LSU’s Doneeka Hodges led all players in scoring with 17 points, going 5 of-6 from the 3-point line, a career high.
The Lady Tigers, who are now 4-2 in Southeastern Conference play, had four players score in double figures and finished the game shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. The Lady Tigers are now 7-0 when shooting better than 50 percent.
LSU led by only four points when they headed for intermission.
“Offensively, I thought we did just what we wanted to do in the first half,” said head coach Sue Gunter. “Defensively, we weren’t quite in rhythm.”
LSU jumped out to a 6-0 run to open the second half and never looked back as they attacked Kentucky’s zone defense and put the clamps on the Lady Wildcat offense, holding their leading scorer, SeSe Helm (17.4 points per game), to 10 points.
Lady Tiger forward Aiysha Smith continued her impressive play with 16 points and nine rebounds. Smith has averaged 17.3 points and 12 rebounds per game in the Lady Tigers’ three-game win streak. At one point in the second half, Smith scored eight straight points to put the nail in Kentucky’s coffin.
Gunter was also pleased with the play of point guard Temeka Johnson, who finished the game with 13 points, four rebounds and eight assists. Roneeka Hodges pitched in with 16 points for the night.
The Lady Tigers were 6-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch and continue to lead the SEC in that department.
“I thought we did a much better job in the second half,” Gunter said. “We did basically what we wanted to.”
Gunter is excited to get this win and said it sets the tone for this Sunday’s 4 p.m. matchup against fifth-ranked Vanderbilt in the sixth annual Pack the PMAC.
Vanderbilt won their previous six contests by an average of 21.8 points until Thursday night’s loss to 18th-ranked Florida.
“Pack the PMAC has really become a wonderful event over the last few years,” Gunter said.
Last year Pack the PMAC drew a record crowd of 9,636 fans, the largest ever to see a woman’s basketball game in the state of Louisiana.
“We want to get at least 10,000 fans to the game and, once again, break the attendance record,” Gunter said.
Thousands of free tickets are available for Sunday’s game at LSU area McDonald’s and Winn Dixie. Free tickets can also be picked up at TigerMania, Levis Mitsubishi or can be downloaded and printed out from www.lsusports.net.
Levis Mitsubishi has donated a 2002 Eclipse for the Flying Frenzy halftime contest. The person who can fly a paper airplane into the open sunroof of the Eclipse, which will be at mid court, gets to drive it home.
LSU students will have the opportunity to win $500 in a drawing by registering at the game. Televisions, DVD players, a home surround sound system, a satellite system with installation and gift certificates to Winn Dixie and TigerMania are among the other giveaways.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a good crowd, and we can make some noise,” Gunter said.