LSU senior guard Allison Hightower scored four points in her first home game as a Lady Tiger in 2006, a 39-point victory against West Virginia.Her last home game in an LSU uniform brought the same kind of result — a dominating 76-47 victory for the No. 20 Lady Tigers (20-8, 9-7) against Mississippi State (18-11, 9-7) in both teams’ regular season finale Sunday afternoon.With the win and Vanderbilt’s 73-70 loss to South Carolina, LSU clinched the No. 4 seed in the Southeastern Conference tournament as well as a first-round bye, the ninth straight season the Lady Tigers have received a bye.Hightower also scored more points Sunday than in her debut as a freshman, as she led all scorers with 26 points in 35 minutes of action. Hightower left the game to a standing ovation with 5:04 to play and LSU ahead, 67-33.Hightower said it was “bittersweet” to bid the PMAC and Lady Tiger fans farewell with the 100rh win of her career. She finished 10-of-18 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc with six rebounds and just one turnover.”That’s a lot of games if you really think about it,” Hightower said. “I’m excited I got to be here and leave the PMAC on a good note. It’s been a long road. This experience has been something I’ll never forget.”LSU coach Van Chancellor said Hightower will be nearly impossible to replace after this season ends.”I told her this was the way to go out — win really big and play the game of your life,” Chancellor said. “There’s no greater challenge for a team to replace a player than we have to replace Allison Hightower. She’s the best defensive player in the league.”The Lady Tigers now have won five of six games to close the regular season. Chancellor said before that stretch he would have never predicted the team would be in its current position.”Six games ago, I did not think we had one foot in the grave,” Chancellor said. “I didn’t think we were quite on life support, but I think the family had thought about calling in the priest to see if we were going to make it our not. All of a sudden, in these last six games, this team has played some great basketball.”The Lady Bulldogs never had much of a chance against LSU, as the Lady Tigers came right out of the gate with a 12-0 run. LSU never trailed in the game and led by as many as 36 points.A key to victory for LSU was the defensive play of sophomore guard Destini Hughes. She kept Mississippi State senior guard Alexis Rack, the SEC’s second-leading scorer with 18.1 points per game, in check Sunday. Rack shot just 2-of-12 from the field for seven points, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.”My role was to not let her get any threes off,” Hughes said. “They wanted me to play hard-nosed defense on her because she was good at taking one dribble on the left and pulling up, and so I was just trying to play close. The overall team defense was hedge hard on the ball screen.”LSU held Mississippi State to 17-of-58 shooting, just 29.3 percent, and forced 18 turnovers. LSU converted 25-of-54 shots for 46.3 percent and committed 11 turnovers.”As you play against a team like LSU that guards you hard inside of half-court game and inside 3-point range, they do a great job,” said Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning-Otis. “And you are going to have to do something special to take [Hightower] out of the game. Her confidence is there, and her 3-point percentage is picking up.”The day ultimately belonged to Hightower, as she cemented her LSU legacy with a convincing victory on the floor she called home for four years.”We wanted to dominate, and that’s what we did,” Hightower said. “It was a good way to leave with a W, something I’ll always cherish. I’ll always be a Lady Tiger forever.”
 
 
 
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