It was over before it ever had a chance to get started.
LSU entered its Sweet 16 matchup against Louisville full of confidence following its comeback victory against West Virginia on Tuesday, but the Cardinals blew LSU off the court in a 73-47 win.
Prior to the contest, LSU already had a monstrous mountain to climb. In its victory against the Mountaineers, senior guard Jeanne Kenney’s career ended with a concussion — the third or fourth of her career. With freshman guard Raigyne Moncrief out with a knee injury, the loss of Kenney left the squad with two of its starters out for the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
That meant LSU sophomore guard Danielle Ballard needed to continue her dominating run in postseason play. The Memphis, Tenn., native scored a combined 46 points in the team’s first two games of the tournament.
In the first half, Ballard rose to the challenge.
She shot 7-of-12 from the field, scoring 14 points. But she was the only Lady Tiger able to put dents in Louisville’s defensive armor.
“I think the one thing about Louisville’s defense is they do a nice job of changing up their defense, and they do a nice job of picking and choosing who to trap, when to trap and things like that,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “So we wanted to take the guesswork out of it.”
With LSU leading 12-9 after seven minutes, Louisville turned on the jets, going on a 12-2 run that quickly ignited the hometown crowd.
Led by senior guard Shoni Schimmel, who had 14 points in the first half, the Cardinals pulled away from the Lady Tigers heading into the locker room. Louisville led 41-23 at halftime.
Louisville never looked back.
The combination of Schimmel and senior guard Tia Gibbs proved to be too much for a depleted LSU lineup, scoring a total of 34 points.
Meanwhile, Ballard continued her solid play into the second half, finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Outside of Ballard, the Lady Tigers shot 4-of-42 from the field.
“It just wasn’t our night tonight,” said freshman guard Jasmine Rhodes. “But we kept fighting, even though we were down by a lot. We strive to come back and never gave up. We tried to overcome adversity, but we just came up short.”
No other LSU player finished with double-digit scoring. Senior forward Theresa Plaisance, who led the team in scoring this season with 15.5 points per game, finished with seven points and 12 rebounds.
LSU freshman guard Jasmine Rhodes, who received her first start with the injuries to Kenney and Moncrief, scored eight points and collected eight rebounds.
The Lady Tigers out-rebounded Louisville 48-46, but LSU’s lack of shooting efficiency combined with the Cardinals’ 40 percent success rate from beyond the arc led to the quick downfall of the visiting squad.
It was a rough ending for Plaisance’s career.
“I can’t say more about [this team],” Plaisance said. “It’s a sad moment for me. I’m really going to miss this place. I’m going to miss the staff. I’m going to miss the players. I’m just going to miss the whole tradition of LSU. It’s a great place to be.”
“I can’t say more about [this team]. It’s a sad moment for me. I’m really going to miss this place. I’m going to miss the staff. I’m going to miss the players. I’m just going to miss the whole tradition of LSU. It’s a great place to be.”