Stifling defense leads Lady Tigers to first win

[Comment Below]

By Ryan Noel

The Lady Tigers' combination of length and quickness proved to be too much for the Centenary Ladies, as LSU stormed out to an insurmountable halftime lead, before eventually finishing off Centenary 92-19. The 73-point victory is the 2nd largest in school history.

With a trio of athletic, ball-hawking guards, LSU's Lady Tigers opened their 2009-2010 season with a 3\4 court press that forced 20 first half turnovers from the Ladies. Senior guard and potential All-American Allison Hightower led the intense pressure alongside junior teammates Latear Eason and Katherine Graham, while the sophomore forward tandem of Courtney Jones and Taylor Turnbow allowed no easy shots in the paint.

Behind the pressure that forced those 20 turnovers, the Lady Tigers held a 51-9 lead at halftime. The Lady Tigers were led in the first half by Hightower's 12 points.

The story was the same in the second half as the Tigers continued their relentless defensive pressure, allowing the Ladies to score only 10 points after the break.

Hightower led all scorers the with 20 points in 19 minutes, while sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett came off the bench to chip in 13. Sophomore guard Destini Hughes and junior guard Jasmine Nelson scored nine apiece for the Lady Tigers.

It wasn't the Lady Tigers' scoring that did the damage, however, as their defensive press forced the Ladies into 33 turnovers for the game. Hightower led the way with four steals, followed by Hughes with three, while Eason and Adrienne Webb chipped in two apiece.

The next few games will get progressively tougher as the Lady Tigers host Middle Tennessee St. on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 pm, and then Houston on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 12pm.

Middle Tennessee will be the first true test of the Lady Tigers, as the Blue Raiders are ranked in the Top 25 preseason poll for the first time ever and boast ESPN.com Preseason All-American small forward Alysha Clark. The Blue Raiders are picked to win the Sun Belt's East Division for the second straight year.

The 24th-ranked Middle Tennessee St. Blue Raiders opened up their season with a 78-53 win over the University of Central Florida. Clark led the way for the Blue Raiders with 32 points (off 10-15 FG) and 15 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Clark was an AP Third Team All-American last year for the Blue Raiders and will be a good early-season test for LSU's own national player of the year candidate, Allison Hightower.

Following the matchup with Middle Tennessee, the Lady Tigers play host to the Houston Lady Cougars.

Houston started off their season with an 86-64 over Gardner-Webb. They were led by a 27-point effort from junior guard Brittney Scott and a double-double from junior forward Courtney Taylor, who finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

The Cougars' forward duo of Taylor and junior Lesslee Mason, who had eight points and 10 rebounds against Gardner-Webb, will be a stiff test for LSU's stable of power forwards led by sophomore Taylor Turnbow.

The Cougars return four starters and eight letter-winners from last year's 19-win team and expects to finish at or near the top of Conference USA this year.

Originally Published: Issue 824 - November 18, 2009

Share on Facebook

Back to the top