For the first time in the history of the program, the LSU Lady Tigers beat the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on the road Thursday night, winning 72-69 in front of 15,850 fans in Thompson-Boling Arena.
The victory snapped a 10-year, 64-game conference home winning streak for coach Pat Summitt and her Lady Vols dating back to a 94-93 overtime loss to Georgia in 1996.
Protecting a 1-point lead, senior All-American Seimone Augustus hit center Sylvia Fowles with a pass under the goal for a layup to put the Lady Tigers ahead three with 16 seconds remaining.
Augustus blocked a shot by Tennessee’s Dominique Redding on the other end and was fouled with less than seven seconds remaining.
Augustus, who kept Tennessee in the game when she missed two consecutive free-throw attempts for only the fourth time in her career, sealed the deal on the defensive end of the court, blocking a Shanna Zolman 3-point attempt near the buzzer.
The Lady Tigers started the game hot, opening up on an 11-1 run capped by an Augustus 3-pointer.
“It was huge.” said LSU coach Pokey Chatman of the run. “It forced some defensive changes. We had to be confident coming out because the crowd’s involved and Tennessee’s playing well.”
After four straight misses from the field by the Lady Volunteers, Candace Parker scored their first field goal nearly four minutes into the game to break the run.
The Lady Tigers built up a 19-6 lead before Parker, Tennessee’s leading scorer, began to turn it on.
After finally getting on track offensively, the Lady Vols cut the Lady Tigers’ lead to 10 before calling a timeout. They then used two consecutive Parker field goals to go on a 9-0 spurt of their own before heading into the half down 37-31.
Coming out of the break, the Lady Vols cut the 6-point halftime deficit to 1 before taking a 43-41 lead on a Shanna Zolman 3-pointer.
Zolman’s 3-point shot with 14:18 left in the game gave the Lady Vols their first lead of the game.
The Lady Tigers were able to regain the lead on the strength of Augustus’ run of 7 consecutive points.
Down by 2, Tennessee guard Alexis Hornbuckle scored a layup to tie the score at 62 and was fouled by Erica White when what Summitt said she believed to be the pivotal moment in the game occurred.
Hornbuckle was hit with a technical foul after taunting White, which resulted in two Augustus free throws and a complete switch of momentum.
“Alexis is the one that made the offensive play, and rather than walk away, she said something.” Summitt said. “That was the turning point.”
With less than five minutes remaining, LSU closed out the game on a 12-6 run.
Scholanda Hoston scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and Augustus finished with 32.
With the win, the Lady Tigers extended their school-record regular season SEC winning streak to 23, but Chatman said she will not do too much celebrating with Georgia visiting the PMAC on Sunday.
“This conference doesn’t allow you to enjoy it a whole lot.” Chatman said. “There’s a talented Georgia basketball team that got to sit home and rest and watch us play tonight.”
 
Contact Jeff Martin at [email protected]