The LSU women’s basketball team’s roller coaster season ran into another drop in its track Sunday. After leading then-No. 9 Texas A&M for 21 minutes, LSU squandered the lead and fell to the Aggies, 55-48.
It’s been more of the same recently for the Lady Tigers, whose slow start to the 2014-15 season is unfamiliar territory for LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. In six seasons as a head coach, Caldwell has never lost more than 12 games in a season. Her team currently has eight losses in 16 games.
LSU showed potential during stretches in its losses to the two then top-10 teams it has played the past few weeks, but Caldwell has yet to see the team complete an entire 40-minute game.
“That’s where we’ve got to be efficient,” Caldwell said. “We weren’t boxing and keeping them off the glass like we did in the first half [against Texas A&M], and really no one on our team is playing 40 minutes.”
LSU’s inability to put a game away is apparent in its last two SEC outings, even with the return of junior guard Danielle Ballard from an indefinite suspension. It relinquished 10 and seven-point leads down the stretch to Vanderbilt and Texas A&M, respectively.
Though they defeated Vanderbilt, the Lady Tigers said they must continue to improve the way they control games. Caldwell and junior guard Akilah Bethel expressed the team’s vision to look at a contest like a boxing match.
“During the game, we kind of count our segments and when we lose them,” Bethel said. “Usually when we lose segments consistently is when we lose a game, and with Vandy, I think we may have only lost two segments in the game. I think it’s important if we’re struggling offensively we can’t struggle defensively.”
While the defense has faded in spurts this season, the Lady Tigers have not allowed an opponent to score 80 points thus far. Teams are shooting less than 40 percent against LSU’s defense and only 30 percent from the 3-point line.
On the other hand, LSU’s offense has produced only one 80-point game, which came against UNC Greensboro. The team averages 62.5 points per game, which is tied for 222 in the nation and ranked second-to-last in the SEC.
Caldwell said she believes missed opportunities close to the basket have been an issue for her team’s offense.
“Our focus and our attention to finish that play has got to get better,” Caldwell said. “We’re missing a lot of layups, and I don’t know if there is any other offense out there that can get you as many open looks as a layup.”
The Lady Tigers plan to keep playing their style of basketball and control the inside of the court and let the offense work its way outside.
Senior forward Sheila Boykin said the key to getting the team back on track is staying focused and sticking to the game plan.
“Inside-outside is the key to winning a basketball game,” Boykin said. “Our plan is to establish the inside attack and then work on to our way outside. They’re not gonna guard the outside unless the inside is doing their job.”
Though LSU accomplished the first half of its plan and scored 26 points in the paint against both South Carolina and Texas A&M, the team shot a combined 6.7 percent from the three-point line in those games.
The lack of outside production puts added pressure on the front court’s performance, which creates issues for an undersized team like LSU.
Caldwell is not troubled with the team’s poor percentage, but she emphasized the Lady Tigers need to improve their decision making.
“My concern is not that we’re missing the threes; my concern has become shot selection,” Caldwell said. “If we’re not making those threes, then what else can we be doing? Can we just step in and get an easy two, or should you just make the extra pass? I’m trying to get our team to understand the difference.”