In a two-part series, Reveille sports writer Chris Gibson will take a look at the LSU Lady Tigers basketball season.
Part one covers the regular season — non-conference and Southeastern Conference play.
Non-conference success
Seimone Augustus sparkled in her long-awaited debut, scoring 27 points to help the No. 2 Lady Tigers win their season opener in overtime, 78-71, at the University of Arizona.
It would be a foreshadowing of things to come for LSU, as it would get through its non-conference schedule undefeated.
The Lady Tigers stomped through the likes of Southeastern Louisiana, Washington State, Florida International, Alabama State (whom it held to a school-record low 19 points), Ohio, Louisville and Southwest Texas State.
LSU would then take on eventual Final Four participant, Texas, at the PMAC in a critical late December game. Behind a second-half run, the Lady Tigers soundly defeated the Lady Longhorns by 18.
After LSU beat North Texas on the road, its undefeated record would be put to the test in a nationally televised game on CBS on Jan. 4 against Penn State in the annual “Pack the PMAC” game. The Lady Tigers would have no trouble with their Big 10 foe, handily winning 80-63. Senior forward Aiysha Smith scored 22 points in the victory.
“These kids have been in some pressure cookers before,” LSU head coach Gunter said. “They’ve had the exposure of the NCAA play and when you’ve got five seniors and only two newcomers, they’re not in awe of too many things.”
The Lady Tigers then entered SEC play but took a midseason break to host No. 20 University of California Santa Barbara on Feb. 15.
In arguably the most exciting game of the year, both teams endured three overtime periods before LSU reigned victorious. Smith scored a career-high 30 points as LSU blew leads in the second half and the second overtime, only to put the Gauchos away in the third overtime.
“I knew it was going to be a really, really good game,” Gunter said. “But I didn’t think it was going to be quite that good. This is a game we’ll learn from. We’re going to be better because of this game.”
Conference schedule
Picked to finish second to Tennessee in the SEC, the Lady Tigers backed up the experts picks, finishing in the spot they were picked.
LSU opened up the conference schedule on the road at Auburn, where the Lady Tigers clawed by the resilient orange Tigers squad. After convincing wins over Ole Miss and Kentucky, LSU was hit with its first loss of the season on the road at Arkansas, 82-72.
The game also saw DeTrina White go down with a stress fracture in her foot, an injury she would not return from until a month later.
The Lady Tigers responded to the loss by beating up on Florida and skating by two Top 25 teams at home in Vanderbilt and Georgia.
After LSU proved itself to be a solid road team by winning at South Carolina and Mississippi State, the Lady Tigers crushed Alabama at home and Ole Miss on the road.
In one of the most hyped games of the women’s college basketball season, No. 3 Tennessee came to the PMAC wanting to keep sole possession of the SEC lead over No. 4 LSU.
Despite having a lead at halftime and no turnovers, LSU turned the ball over in the waning seconds. Tennessee escaped with a 68-65 win in front of 14,501 people, an LSU women’s and State of Louisiana women’s record.
“Tennessee expected to win, and we hoped to win — therein lies the difference,” Gunter said. “That’s the next step that we will get to. The biggest difference in the game was that Tennessee made plays when they had to, and we didn’t.”
LSU would split its last two games of the year, avenging its first loss of the year by beating Arkansas but losing to Vanderbilt on the road. The Lady Tigers headed into the SEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed.