No. 17 LSU opened Southeastern Conference play with a convincing win over No. 21 Auburn, 70-59 on Sunday in front of 6,205 fans at the eighth annual Pack the PMAC.
The Lady Tigers (13-2, 1-0 SEC) never trailed in the game and were able to overcome a five-minute scoring drought late in the game. LSU led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but Auburn (12-3, 0-1 SEC) managed to cut the lead to nine points with a minute to play.
Guard Doneeka Hodges led LSU with 20 points while freshman forward Hanna Biernacka scored a career-high 14 points. Seimone Augustus also chipped in with 13 points and Temeka Johnson added 11 points and 11 assists.
Johnson said the team has come out with fast starts the last two games, but also has made some mistakes in finishing out those contests. She said the team needs to be more consistent in the final minutes.
“We just have to put it together,” Johnson said. “We start well, but we just have to finish it. We can’t go for 37 minutes and not play hard the last three minutes.”
LSU coach Sue Gunter missed her second game due to illness and Associate coach Pokey Chatman took her place. Chatman said not having Gunter on the sidelines did not affect LSU’s performance.
“There’s always something missing, but the credit goes to coach Gunter and how she runs the program,” Chatman said. “These kids just stepped up and played well. The best thing, in terms of helping coach Gunter, is just coming away with a win.”
LSU outrebounded Auburn, the top rebounding squad in the country, 42-29 and shot 47.7 percent from the floor, compared to Auburn’s 38.2 percent. LSU also held Auburn to zero fast break points.
“We would have been excited to hold them to eight or 10,” Chatman said. “But to hold them to zero is a testament to our kids.”
LSU opened both halves of the game with quick offensive spurts. After a Hodges jumper, Augustus hit a pair of shots to put LSU up 6-0 with 18:41 to play in the first half.
After leading 33-28 at halftime, the Lady Tigers got a pair of quick 3-pointers from Hodges, extending the lead to 11 points with 18:48 to play. From there, the Lady Tigers held Auburn at bay for most of the second half.
“We were just in a panic mode defensively,” said Auburn coach Joe Ciampi. “That has to be credited to their patience, making good back screens and good cuts. We could have had seven players out on the court today and it wouldn’t have mattered the way [LSU] was shooting the ball.”
Ciampi said LSU’s runs at the beginning of each half rattled Auburn’s defense and forced the team to change its game plan.
“We made a good run at the end of the first half to get our composure back and Hodges lights two [3-pointers] up on us,” Ciampi said. “So now our thinking was, ‘who are we and what do we have to do to stop them?’ We got out of sync and overplayed the wrong people at the wrong times.”
Louise Emeagi led Auburn in scoring with 15 points and Le’Coe Willingham added 11 points.
LSU, which has now won 12 straight games, will host Florida in the PMAC on Thursday at 7 p.m.