Last season, the LSU women’s basketball team struggled on the road, losing its first four Southeastern Conference road games of the season. But with a new season comes a new team, and that team seems to have little fear away from Baton Rouge.
LSU (14-3, 3-1 SEC) set a new school record with 13 3-pointers and improved to 2-0 in conference road games as it defeated Missouri 87-68 Thursday night in Colombia, Mo.
The win, which was the fifth in the last six games for LSU, kept the team near the top of the SEC standings. It is LSU’s largest margin of victory over an SEC opponent since a Feb. 28, 2013, game against Alabama.
Senior guard Jeanne Kenney led LSU with a career-high 30 points, shooting 6-of-9 from behind the arc. It’s the first time a Lady Tiger scored 30 points since Allison Hightower scored 31 in 2010.
The first half saw a barrage of 3-pointers by both teams, with 18 made in the first 20 minutes of play. Both teams shot better from behind the arc than they did inside it in the first half.
Mizzou (13-5, 2-3 SEC) got off to a hot start, scoring its first 15 points of the game through five 3-pointers and taking an early 10-point lead. But LSU used long-range shooting to take its first lead of the game with 8:22 left in the first half.
While LSU continued its offensive prowess in the second half, Missouri struggled to keep it close as the game went on. The key was an improvement in LSU perimeter defense, as Missouri made nine less 3-pointers in the second half than the first.
A 9-2 run gave LSU its first double-digit lead with 8:36 left in the second half, and LSU never looked back from there.
LSU also received a tremendous scoring performance from its bench, getting 28 points from non-starters. Sophomore guard Anne Pedersen led all bench players, scoring a career-high 13 points along with three rebounds.
The Lady Tigers continue play Sunday afternoon when they take on Vanderbilt (15-3, 4-1 SEC) at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., at 1 p.m.
Vanderbilt comes into the game winning 12 of its last 13 games, including a seven-game home winning streak.
Senior guards Christina Foggie and Jasmine Lister lead the team, averaging more than 16 points per game.
Foggie and Lister help form a high-powered offense that averages 79.3 points per game and shoots 48 percent from the field.
Vanderbilt continued its winning ways Thursday, as it came back in the second half to defeat Ole Miss 80-74 in Oxford, Miss. Foggie and Lister were the main catalysts again, as the two combined for 45 points.