The No. 14 LSU women’s basketball team lost control late in an 88-67 loss to No. 5 Louisville on Thursday night, ending its run in the preseason WNIT semifinals.
The Lady Tigers (2-1) were able to keep their deficit to within six points midway through the second half, but they quickly found themselves out of contention as Louisville ran away with the game by scoring 20 unanswered points in less than five minutes.
“The game is a 40-minute game and we only played about 30,” said LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell in a news release. “We can’t take possessions off because against a team like Louisville, they will tear you apart.”
Louisville senior forward Asia Taylor had a career night, posting game-highs with 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Taylor, who missed all of last season with a hip injury, opened the game in a flurry, accounting for 10 of the Cardinals’ first 12 points of the game.
“[Asia] Taylor really set the tone for tonight, coming after our post game,” Caldwell said.
Despite allowing Louisville to jump ahead 15-6 early, the Lady Tigers fought back and even took a lead shortly before halftime.
But Taylor continued her success early in the second half when she added seven points, four rebounds and a steal in less than five minutes as the Cardinals took a 56-46 lead.
The Lady Tigers made one final push, cutting Louisville’s lead to 60-54, but then suffered a five-minute scoring drought and found itself trailing 80-54 before finding the net again.
The Cardinals out-scored LSU 54-26 in the paint and scored 21 points off 15 turnovers.
“The two areas of concern for us were their transition game and their offensive rebounding,” Caldwell said. “They capitalized on both.”
Senior forward Theresa Plaisance led LSU with 13 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Shanece McKinney also contributed in the post with nine points and seven rebounds.
The LSU backcourt struggled to find success shooting the ball. Junior guard and reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Week DaShawn Harden went 1-for-9 from the field in a four-point showing.
Despite co-leading the Lady Tigers in scoring with 13 points, LSU freshman guard Raigyne Moncrief saw just four of her 17 shots from the field go through the net.
Senior guard Jeanne Kenney found a bit more success from the field than her teammates, shooting 3-of-7 from beyond the arc in an 11-point performance, but she also committed six turnovers.
“I thought we started jump shooting the ball too much,” Caldwell said. “We should have gotten the ball inside and been more patient. The second thing was we didn’t take care of the basketball.”
There will not be a WNIT third place consolation game, according to a news release. The Lady Tigers will continue their regular season Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Hampton in the PMAC.