November 18, 2009
Lady Tigers pass first test of the season
By Stephen Evans
LSU women’s basketball head coach Van Chancellor touted the 24th-ranked Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders as the most under-rated team in America this season.
Chancellor also poor-mouthed his squad, ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press poll, as perhaps the country’s most over-rated team.
If Wednesday night was any indication, the pollsters appear to be right on, as the LSU Lady Tigers cruised past the Blue Raiders 61-40 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The victory avenged losses to the Blue Raiders the past two seasons and improved the Lady Tigers’ overall record to 2-0. Middle Tennessee fell to 1-1 in scoring its fewest points in a game since January 5, 1998, when it scored just 32 points against the University of Tennessee-Martin.
“There isn’t any doubt that that was one of the greatest defensive efforts I have ever seen,” Chancellor said after the game. “(LSU assistant coach) Bob Starkey did a wonderful job of devising a wonderful defensive plan. To hold them to 40 points was just unbelievable.”
Much of LSU’s defensive scheme centered around letting preseason All-American selection Alysha Clark, who Chancellor predicted would be a top three selection in the WNBA Draft, get her points while trying to shut down the remainder of the Middle Tennessee roster.
The Lady Tigers did just that and also did a quality job in limiting Clark’s production, making her much less of a factor than was expected. Much of that credit after the game went to sophomore post player Taylor Turnbow, who drew the defensive assignment against Clark. Turnbow, with some help from her teammates, limited Clark to 16 points, including just five in the first half.
That, coupled with a career scoring and rebounding night herself, drew praise from her head coach.
“The Turnbow on Clark (matchup) was just outstanding,” said Chancellor. “Not only did (Turnbow) have 12 rebounds, but she had 17 points. This was coming out party for Taylor Turnbow. She was truly, truly outstanding for us.”
Turnbow and the Lady Tigers set the tone early, stymieing Middle Tennessee in the first half and delivering a knockout blow from which it could not recover. The Lady Tigers forced 16 Blue Raider turnovers in the first 20 minutes and scored 21 points off of those Middle Tennessee miscues. In all, LSU forced 28 Middle Tennessee turnovers in the game.
The Blue Raiders also went cold from the field, making just 6-of-22 first half field goal attempts, most of which were contested by the LSU defense. That included a 6:42 scoreless stretch at the end of the half, a streak that was snapped by a three-point heave from just inside the half-court stripe as the halftime buzzer sounded.
Despite the low-percentage three-pointer, LSU held Middle Tennessee to just 15 points in the first half and, by the halftime break, built a 35-15 advantage.
“LSU played a great game,” said Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell. “You have to give them credit. They came out and played a great game on the boards early. They made some shots. They gave us problems tonight, but we knew that coming in.”
While the first half was a dominating 20 minutes by the Lady Tigers, the second half proved to be a tougher battle, though LSU was never threatened on the scoreboard. The game turned much more physical, the type of contest that suits the Lady Tigers just fine.
Middle Tennessee would never get closer than within 16 points of the Lady Tigers, despite LSU struggling to make field goals. The Lady Tigers shot just 9-of-28 from the floor in the second half, but it was good enough to put the wraps on an impressive early-season home win.
“I think they got better,” Insell said when comparing this season’s version of the Lady Tigers to last season’s. “They took all those freshmen and played all year in the SEC and got better. They are very athletic. The kids are long and fundamentally sound. They’ve done a good job with them. I think they are one of the top ten teams in the country. I don’t think they’re overrated. I think they’re only going to get better.”
Joining Turnbow in double figures for the Lady Tigers was LaSondra Barrett. She came off the bench and scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. Allison Hightower, who led the team in scoring in the season opener against Centenary, scored just seven points in the game.
