The LSU women’s basketball team dropped its fourth-straight Southeastern Conference game with a 48-44 loss to Arkansas in the PMAC on Thursday night as the continue to battle injuries.
Against the Razorbacks (9-10, 1-5), the Lady Tigers (7-12, 1-5 SEC) dressed only seven scholarship players.
Sophomore guard Jenna Deemer missed her third game due to an illness while senior forward Ann Jones was out the first time this season with an ankle injury that occurred in practice Wednesday.
The duo’s absence combined with junior guard Raigyne Moncrief and freshman forward Ayana Mitchell’s season-ending injuries left the Lady Tigers constantly adjusting.
“Our team is adjusting to six players,” said LSU coach Nikki Fargas.“We had a rotation of eight; I think we were just trying to find our way. Going into SEC play you need everybody. We need Jenna Deemer and we need Ann Jones, especially with what we lost at the beginning of the season. There is no room for us to continue to lose anybody else.”
Despite their depleted corps, the Lady Tigers came out strong in the first quarter to lead Arkansas, 14-7 The second quarter was a tug war as both teams struggled to keep the lead or rally back before going into the half tied 24-24.
LSU forward Akilah Bethel said to think about going into the half tied couldn’t stop LSU from doing what it needed.
“The mindset for us was to start to pull away,” Bethel said. “We had them down in the first quarter. In the second quarter they started to come back a little bit. Ultimately, we came out, get a stop and score. We have to be able to defend, but we also have to be able to put the ball in the basket. Putting together a full game is really key for us.”
In the third quarter, the Razorbacks established a lead with 6-0 run at the end of the third quarter as the Lady Tigers notched three turnovers during same span.. The Razorbacks took a 33-27 lead of the Lady Tigers in the third quarter.
LSU forward Alexis Hyder led the Lady TIgers’ offense with 15 points and had 11 rebounds. She recorded her sixth career double-double. The Razorbacks’ junior forward Jessica Jackson led her team in points scoring 15 points.
Despite the injuries and Arkansas’ rally in the third quarter, Hyder said it only pushed her to play harder.
“There was a timeout, and I remember saying ‘The momentum is shifting their way. We have to notice it, and let’s change it,’” Hyder said. “Teams are going to make runs. It’s our job to push back. It’s no different when we go on a run and a team wants to react. We have to be able to adjust when a run happens and not lay down.”
The Lady Tigers will travel to play Georgia at the Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia on Jan. 24.
Fargas said the team will be working hard in practice as always to prepare for the next games. She said what they practice has to be shown when they play.
“I think our focus will be simple,” Fargas said. “It’s going to be on us. Every game we’ve been in and we have not been as solid as we need to be so we are going to go back and we are going to watch us…I think that’s what we are going to continue to work on until it really sticks and it becomes very comfortable for players to accept a bigger role than they were initially in.”
You can reach Jourdan Riley on Twitter @jourdanr_TDR