LSU’s women’s basketball team knew it needed to step up against Kentucky if the Lady Tigers wanted to halt their two-game losing streak.Two upperclassmen who hadn’t seen much playing time this season rose to the challenge Sunday, as junior guard Andrea Kelly and senior forward Kristen Morris combined for 23 points and 14 rebounds in LSU’s 59-56 victory in Lexington, Ky.Kelly scored every one of LSU’s 3-point field goals in her first career start. All of her points were from behind the arc.”The biggest gamble of my coaching career was starting Kelly at the [point guard] position tonight,” Chancellor said in a postgame radio interview. “She had 15 points and no turnovers. And she made five threes; we didn’t make five threes.”Kelly made two 3-point jumpers in less than a minute in the second half to give LSU a 52-45 lead. But she missed two free throws with 14 seconds remaining to give Kentucky another chance. The junior point guard hadn’t missed a free throw all season, going a perfect 7-for-7 before Sunday.Kentucky’s Carly Morrow made two free throws to cut LSU’s lead to 57-56 with eight seconds left. But LSU junior guard Allison Hightower was fouled and sunk two free throws to extend the lead to 59-56. The Lady Tigers held on when Kentucky sophomore guard Amber Smith’s last-second 3-point attempt fell short, snapping LSU’s two-game Southeastern Conference losing streak.”We were in our ‘no three-ball defense,'” Chancellor said. “With eight seconds to go when we fouled on the baseline, I thought that was going to be a catastrophe for us, but we came out and Hightower made some great big shots.”After Hightower and Kentucky senior forward Eleia Roddy made two free throws each, LSU led 55-52 with 56 seconds to play. Morris then converted a jumper with the shot clock winding down to give the Lady Tigers a five-point lead in the final 38 seconds.Morris, LSU’s lone senior, added 10 rebounds to her 8 points, accounting for all of LSU’s bench points.Chancellor said Morris’ clutch shot was crucial to the win.”Morris hitting that shot from the baseline I thought was the difference maker in the game,” Chancellor said. “It was outstanding. I also thought she did a great job guarding Roddy.”Roddy led all scorers Sunday with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, and Kentucky sophomore forward Victoria Dunlap had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.Chancellor said winning the turnover battle was what carried the Lady Tigers through. The seven turnovers were the fewest LSU has committed all season.”That’s the way LSU wins,” Chancellor said. “And that’s all we got to do.”LSU (10-7, 3-2) shot 37 percent from the field, including 36 percent from 3-point range. LSU led by as many as seven points in the first half and led 27-23 at halftime.Hightower led the team with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and freshman forward LaSondra Barrett extended her streak to seven games scoring in double figures, as she chipped in 14 points, including 6-of-8 free throws and three rebounds.The Lady Tigers travel to SEC foe South Carolina on Thursday.”It looks like we’re playing a bit more relaxed on the road than we are at home,” Chancellor said. “Now we’ll go to South Carolina and play a good team.”——Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]