Prior to LSU’s regular season finale against Tennessee, senior shooting guard Doneeka Hodges was in a 6-for-41 shooting slump.
In the Tigers’ 79-66 win over Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament, Hodges found her shooting touch, burying five 3-pointers in the first half and finishing with 24 points to lead all scorers and advance the Lady Tigers.
LSU (23-6) never trailed the Lady Rebels, thanks to solid first-half shooting from the team (56.3 percent) and Hodges, who shot 9-of-14 from the field.
Lady Tigers acting coach Pokey Chatman said Hodges’ solid night on the floor was a result of the team executing the motion offense properly.
“Doneeka’s a good shooter and when we execute and find the gaps and reverse the basketball, she can knock that shot down,” Chatman said. “It’s the difference between her getting the basketball [with a defender on her] or getting a wide-open look.”
Hodges, the team’s second leading scorer with a 14.6 points per game average, got things started with a 3-pointer from the corner to break the game’s only tie and finished 5-of-9 from behind the arc. She also finished with four rebounds in 33 minutes of work.
“They had more offensive players on one side of the court than we had defenders and she [Hodges] was continually getting wide open looks at the basket,” said Ole Miss coach Carol Ross. “Sometimes you can leave people open and it doesn’t hurt you, but a player of Hodges’ ability is going to make that net sing.”
Hodges, who shoots 36 percent from 3-point range, hit knocked two more 3-pointers down from the corner to help fuel a 12-0 Lady Tigers run that kept Ole Miss at bay. The Lady Rebels would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
“LSU really came out and played aggressively,” Ross said. “They played like the defending SEC Tournament champions.”
Hodges made her final 3-pointer of the half to put LSU up 43-26 at halftime.
“They made us pay,” Ross said. “They stepped up and really put their foot on our throats. They showed great killer instinct.”