Allison Hightower took her first step onto the LSU basketball court for the Lady Tigers three years ago. The senior guard will begin her final season Nov. 15 at LSU, and the Arlington, Texas, native prefers to focus on the present rather than look ahead to hanging up her LSU uniform after this year.”I’ve learned every day through the experiences we go through, and I’ll miss my teammates so much,” Hightower said. “But we’re not going to talk about that. We’re just     getting started.”Hightower enters her senior season already on the John Wooden Award Watch List as a national player of the year candidate and as the 2010 Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year in the media and coaches polls.In 2008, Hightower became the first Lady Tiger to lead LSU in points, assists, steals and blocks in a single season and earned first-team All-SEC honors.Junior guard Katherine Graham said Hightower’s success will leave a lasting legacy in the roots of LSU women’s basketball.”She’s going to leave a huge imprint on those of us who will still be here,” Graham said. “She’s always in the right place at the right time and has a smart basketball IQ. She’s going to leave her mark that way.”Hightower started her LSU career in 2006 when Lady Tiger legends Sylvia Fowles, Quianna Chaney and Erica White were juniors. LSU had played in three straight Final Fours at that point, and Hightower said she was feeling the pressure when she arrived.”When I first came in, LSU was the elite program,” she said. “When I got here, I thought to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to be tough,’ and it was tough my freshman year.”Graham joined the Lady Tigers one year after Hightower, and Graham said Hightower’s role in her first two seasons was different than as a junior and senior.”On that team, she was more of a complement player,” Graham said, “Now she has a different role as the main focus of the team … I don’t think it was a huge transition because she prepared herself each day. Playing against those players will get you ready to step in and fill that role.”Hightower said she knows the importance of leading as an upperclassman and showing her younger teammates the lessons she has learned playing Lady Tiger basketball.”A lot of what they instilled in me is to have heart … have passion about what you do and be proud of the LSU jersey you wear across your chest,” Hightower said. “I’ve always been a person that leads by being a hard worker.”Hightower said her defense was lacking that emotional spark in her first season, and she had a lot to learn on both sides of the ball to fit into LSU’s system.”[LSU] was the No. 1 defensive team in the nation, and my defense was just horrible,” Hightower said. “I had to really get that down and flow into the motion offense we run and try to guard people. The speed is on a totally different level once you get to college.” These days, Hightower says one of her strengths is reading opposing defenses. She is No. 10 in LSU history with 76 career blocked shots and holds the school record for career blocked shots by a guard.Fowles, Chaney and White all currently play in the WNBA or in foreign leagues. Fowles is a center with the Chicago Sky, and White and Chaney played overseas during the WNBA offseason with Natanya in Israel and Energa Torun in Poland, respectively. Hightower said a long-term goal of hers has been to reach the professional stage.”It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the WNBA and overseas ever since the league started,” she said.
 
 
 
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