The LSU women’s basketball team could not finish its record-setting regular season on a strong note, falling to No. 18 Vanderbilt, 72-60, at the Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn.
Despite the loss, No. 5 LSU (24-3, 11-3 Southeastern Conference) still will be the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament in Little Rock, Ark., when it faces the winner of No. 7 seed Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. on SEC-TV.
In other tournament action, top seed Tennessee will face Auburn, who beat Kentucky, 68-62. No. 4 seed Mississippi State faces South Carolina today at 6 p.m. The Lady Gamecocks advanced with a 79-64 win.
LSU head coach Sue Gunter said she hopes the team, which still has a shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament if it wins the SEC title, will overcome the Vanderbilt loss and get it out of its mind before tip-off.
“The wheels are not off the wagon — we just took a little detour today,” Gunter said after Sunday’s game. “[But] we need to get hungry again because if we don’t, we won’t be in Little Rock long enough to get a meal.”
If LSU advances, it will play Saturday at 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. in the championship game.
In Sunday’s game, the Lady Tigers shot 41 percent and made more field goals than their opponent, but committed 21 turnovers, which led to 16 Vandy points at the other end.
Vanderbilt relied on a strong inside performance from senior center Chantelle Anderson to get the win. Anderson scored 24 points, grabbed five rebounds and had five assists to lead the Lady Commodores.
“I’m just finally starting to play like I know I can; I’m playing like I have been for the past three years,” Anderson said of her last two games, which included a 35-point performance in a 91-71 loss to Tennessee.
The Lady Commodores also shot 41 percent from the floor but used Anderson’s inside presence to get to the free-throw line, converting 21-of-24 baskets. Jenni Benningfield added 17 points and 11 rebounds inside for Vanderbilt.
Gunter said the team did not have its usual intensity and was never in the game because the players were not aggressive. She said Vanderbilt came ready to play, and LSU did not.
“For whatever reason, we just couldn’t quite get it kicked in,” Gunter said. “I thought we had an opportunity just before halftime, and then we let them take the lead.”
The Lady Tigers got off to a slow start, falling behind 20-12 early in the first but went on a 13-2 run to take its only lead of the game. The Lady Commodores fought back late in the half and scored the last four points to take a 30-28 halftime lead.
Vanderbilt started the second half by making 5-of-6 shots to take a 41-36 lead, and LSU only was able to get within three points the rest of the way.
“In the second half, they smelled blood, and it simply meant more to them than it did to us,” Gunter said.
Guard Doneeka Hodges scored all of her 14 points in the second half while Aiysha Smith had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Temeka Johnson and Seimone Augustus also chipped in 12 points in the game.
Senior point guard Ashley McElhiney, who did not play in Vanderbilt’s 70-59 loss in Baton Rouge, added seven points for the Lady Commodores.
Wednesay, Seimone Augustus was named SEC Freshman of the Year and also earned second-team All-SEC and All-Freshman team honors. Aiysha Smith and Temeka Johnson both received honorable mention for the All-Conference team.