With an 86-61 road victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa on Thursday, the LSU Lady Tigers (24-2, 12-1) clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference regular season crown for the second consecutive year.
The Lady Tigers scored 49 points in the second half to defeat the Crimson Tide (9-17, 3-10) and secure the No. 1 overall seed in the SEC tournament.
Senior Seimone Augustus scored the game-high 32 points on 15 of 23 shooting, while center Sylvia Fowles notched a career-high 28 points and 13 rebounds for her 17th double-double of the season.
“Obviously, those are two of the better players in the country,” Alabama coach Stephany Smith said in a news release. “They seemed to make every shot and were outstanding tonight, as they usually are.”
The Lady Tigers took an 11-point lead midway through the first half on a Florence Williams jump shot.
LSU’s lead was cut down to four after Tide forward Harriet Barnes hit a jump shot with just less than five minutes left in the half. The Lady Tigers entered halftime up 37-31.
The Lady Tigers began to pull ahead in the second half, outscoring the Crimson Tide 14-5 in the first five minutes.
LSU forced 30 turnovers in the game and held the Tide scoreless for a four-minute stretch late in the game.
Augustus’ 32 points were just 2 shy of passing Julie Ross for second on the career-scoring list. She will have another opportunity to pass Ross on Sunday, when Augustus and fellow seniors Scholanda Hoston and Florence Williams face off against Mississippi State on senior night in their final home game at the PMAC.
“With everything that has happened here and all of the history we have made, it will be very emotional.” Augustus said. “It’ll be tough to say goodbye to the PMAC on Sunday, but we still have a long stretch of basketball to go afterwards.”
Mississippi State (6-20, 1-12 ) will enter the 2 p.m. contest with the worst record in the SEC, coming off a 28-point loss to South Carolina on Thursday.
 
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