Seimone Augustus led a furious second half comeback, as the LSU Lady Tigers upended Arkansas 73-65 in Fayetteville on Thursday night.
Augustus scored 20 of her team-high 22 points in the second half — a half in which the Lady Tigers trailed by 16 points.
Arkansas’ Shameka Christon outdid all scorers with 27 points, but Augutus outplayed her counterpart down the stretch. Augustus scored 16 of her 22 points in the final 6:45 of the game — including 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.
As a team, LSU went to the free-throw line 25 times, all in the second half. The Lady Tigers made 22 of those free throws, including 15 consecutive at one point.
Arkansas made only 8-of-20 from the free-throw line.
But Arkansas dominated the first half of play and led 33-23 at the break. Christon scored 16 points in the first half and the Lady ‘Backs outrebound LSU 21-9 at halftime.
“We just didn’t execute on either end in the first half,” said LSU associate coach Bob Starkey in the post-game radio show. “They were clicking on all cylinders early, and we weren’t. That’s not a good thing to happen on the road.”
The Lady Tigers struggled out of the gate in the second half as Arkansas opened the half on a 9-3 run to extend the lead to 16 points. LSU cut the lead to seven with less than 10 minutes to play, but Arkansas opened the game with a 6-2 run to push the lead back to double digits.
But then the Lady Tigers started to go to the free-throw line, led by sophomore Augustus. LSU ripped off a 12-2 run to get within one point — 10 coming from Augustus. But the Lady ‘Backs pushed the lead up to five behind two consecutive baskets by Kristen Moore and Christon.
Arkansas did not score again. LSU stifled the Lady ‘Backs offensively and finished the game on a 13-0 run.
Starkey said Augustus threw the team on her sholders during the second half.
“I think Seimone just put us on her back and carried us there for about three or four minutes,” Starkey said. “You could just see that she had that look in her eye that we were going to win this ball game.”
LSU experienced a similar comeback in last season’s NCAA Tournament against in-state school Louisiana Tech. The Lady Tigers trailed by 17 points in that contest.
“I don’t think at any point in time in the game did we think that we did not have a chance to win the ball game,” Starkey said. “It was just a matter of us stringing together two or three good posessions on both ends, and cutting into the lead. Once we could do that, then we had a chance — and that’s exactly what happened.”
Starkey said the Lady Tigers made defensive adjustments in the second half to try to contain Christon.
“We started running some people at her,” Starkey said. “We talked before the game [that] you’re not going to shut her down, you’ve just got to hope to contain her.”
Doneeka Hodges was responsible for most of the defense on Christon in the second half.
“Doneeka gave us some great minutes on Christon during the run,” Starkey said.
For the game, Arkansas shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded LSU, 37-29. But Arkansas’ inability to make free throws and shots down the stretch spelled the end for the Lady ‘Backs’ bid at an upset.
No. 12 LSU (16-2, 4-0 Souteastern Conference) won its 15th straight game. It was the first win for the Lady Tigers at Bud Walton Arena since Feb. 11, 2001. Coach Sue Gunter returned to the sideline for the first time in four games to coach the 999th game of her career and she earned her 696th career win.
The Lady Tigers shot 42 percent from the field and made 5-of-12 from 3-point range. Doneeka Hodges made three of those and scored 15 points; it was her 11th straight game scoring in double digits.
Temeka Johnson recorded a double-double in 40 minutes of playing time with 12 points and 11 assists. Scholanda Hoston scored 10 points off the LSU bench, including two 3-pointers.
Arkansas’ forward Kristen Moore recorded a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds against the Lady Tigers. Moore and Christon accounted for 46 of Arkansas’ 65 points.
The Lady Tigers look to continue the momentum on the road against No. 17 Georgia on Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 4 p.m.
Georgia has yet to win an SEC game, losing to Florida, Auburn and Ole Miss in the last week. LSU coach Sue Gunter said she is surprised Georgia is struggling in conference.
“Unfortunately, we may be catching them at a bad time,” Gunter said. “At the beginning of the year, I thought Georgia was the best team in the conference. I still do.”
Starkey said the Lady Tigers need to use the last two wins — both on the road and in close games — to their advantage.
“When you come from behind like this, this is something you can draw from down the road,” Starkey said.