There must be something about Louisiana State that brings out the worst in the Florida women’s basketball team. The Gators, who once lost 69-34 to LSU back on Feb. 22, 1986, lost to the No. 23 Tigers 70-30 Thursday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Although there wasn’t one problem for the Gators, shooting was certainly a big factor in the loss. The Gators went 0-for-11 on 3-pointers in the first half and made just 1 of 19 in the game (5.3 percent). Florida hit just 11 of 56 shots (19.2 percent) for the game. No Gator reached double figures as senior Steffi Sorensen led Florida (13-11, 6-5 SEC) with 9 points.
Allison Hightower, who led LSU (16-7, 5-6 SEC) with 19 points, scored 14 of the points as her team ran out to a 16-5 lead on way to a 34-13 halftime lead. “We just wanted to really come out with a lot of energy,” Hightower said. “We wanted this game more. We wanted to be tougher, we wanted to get to the loose balls.”
The Tigers had runs of 13-0, 10-0 and 7-0 in the first half. In the locker room, their coach Van Chancellor told his team he expected Florida to make a run in the second half.
“I’ll be honest with you—I was shocked in the second half,” Chancellor said. “I thought they would come out on fire.”
Florida coach Amanda Butler was shocked, too. “It’s nice to hear him say that,” Butler said. “Clearly, we had a different game in mind as well … the thing that’s escaping me tonight is why the toughness wasn’t there.”
Instead, the Gators came out cold and did not score a field goal until 14:34 was left in the game. Meanwhile, LSU opened with a 26-4 run in the first nine minutes of the half until Florida guard Jen Mossor snapped the streak with Florida’s lone 3-pointer of the game with 10:47 remaining.
“I thought a lot of it had to LSU,” Chancellor said. “I’m never gonna call them flat. I’m gonna have to play them again in the SEC. I may be a country boy, but I’m not a dumb country boy.”
Early on, Florida tried to establish center Azania Stewart. She got to touch the ball on Florida’s first three possessions but was unable to convert any of the chances into points and she eventually left the game with a foot injury that has been bothering her recently. She did not return.
LSU’s defense set the tone during the game and forced Florida to play on the perimeter. Offensively, LSU shot 46.7 percent from the floor and 53.8 percent from the 3-point line.
Sorensen was not happy with her team’s performance.
“We didn’t come out with intensity, fire or fight, which is what this team is built on,” Sorensen said. “That was the most disappointing thing, that we didn’t respond the way that we should.”
Even coming off a strong double-overtime win against Mississippi State, Butler knew she would have a tough fight against LSU.
“Their SEC record is no indication of how good they are,” Butler said. “It wasn’t that we lost, it’s just that we got killed.”
Whatever went wrong, Florida will have to figure it out quickly. The next game on the schedule is a road trip to Tennessee Sunday afternoon.
“As upset and angry and disappointed and all these things that we are, we go to Knoxville Sunday, and so we’ve got to have a quick turnaround mentally and physically,” Butler added. “We have to find a way to find some different answers offensively without Azania on the floor, find the people who are going to step up. That’s what we’ve got to figure out in the next two days and have a champion’s response.”
No. 23 LOUISIANA STATE 70, FLORIDA 30
At Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
LOUISIANA STATE (70) – Swayze Black 2-4 0-0 4, LaSondra Barrett 4-7 2-2 11, Katherine Graham 1-4 0-0 2, Destini Hughes 2-5 0-0 4, Allison Hightower 8-13 0-0 19, Latear Eason 1-3 0-2 2, Adrienne Webb 4-11 2-2 13, Bianca Lutley 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Jones 5-7 1-2 11, Erica Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Turnbow 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 28-60 7-10 70.
Field-goal shooting: 28 of 60 for 46.7 percent. 3-point shooting: 7 of 13 for 53.8 percent (Hightower 3-3, Webb 3-7, Barrett 1-1, Jones 0-1, Williams 0-1). Free-throw shooting: 7 of 10 for 70 percent. Points in the paint: 28. Points off turnovers: 18. Second-chance points: 10. Fastbreak points: 4. Bench points: 30. Rebounds: 43 (Barrett 8, Jones 7, Turnbow 7). Assists: 13 (Hughes 5, Graham 4, Barrett 3). Blocked shots: 4 (Jones 2). Steals: 8 (Hightower 3). Turnovers: 10 (Graham 3). Total fouls (fouled out): 10 (none).
FLORIDA (30) – Sharielle Smith 0-6 0-0 0, Azania Stewart 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 1-7 0-0 2, Steffi Sorensen 3-10 3-3 9, Jennifer Mossor 0-2 0-0 0, Christal Caldwell 2-6 0-0 4, Tessah Holt 0-4 0-0 0, Ndidi Madu 1-3 2-2 4, Susan Yenser 1-4 0-0 3, Trumae Lucas 1-6 0-0 2, Jennifer George 2-3 2-2 6, Jordan Jones 0-4 0-0 0, Ebonie Crawford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-56 7-7 30.
Field-goal shooting: 11 of 56 for 19.6 percent. 3-point shooting: 1 of 19 for 5.3 percent (Yenser 1-3, Smith 0-2, Thompson 0-2, Holt 0-3, Jones 0-4, Sorensen 0-5). Free-throw shooting: 7 of 7 for 100 percent. Points in the paint: 14. Points off turnovers: 9. Second-chance points: 4. Fastbreak points: 6. Bench points: 19. Rebounds: 35 (George 6, Lucas 4, Sorensen 4). Assists: 4 (Thompson 2). Blocked shots: 3 (Caldwell 2). Steals: 6 (six with 1 each). Turnovers: 16 (Lucas 3, Thompson 3). Total fouls (fouled out): 14 (none).
Halftime: Louisiana State 34, Florida 13. Score tied: 1 time, 2-2 at 19:15 of first half. Lead changes: 0. Largest LSU lead: 43 points at 11:56 of the second half. Largest Florida lead: None. Officials: Lisa Mattingly, Denise Brooks, Metta Roberts. A—2,035. Records: Louisiana State 16-7, 5-6 SEC; Florida 13-11, 6-5 SEC.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
For the latest standings, click below:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/conferences/standings?year=2010&confId=23
Thursday, Feb. 11
Louisiana State 70, Florida 30
No. 16 Kentucky 64, No. 18 Georgia 48
No. 5 Tennessee 61, Mississippi 58
Arkansas 73, Auburn 58
Mississippi State 55, South Carolina 53
Sunday, Feb. 14
Florida at Tennessee, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Alabama at Georgia, 2 p.m. (CSS)
Arkansas at South Carolina, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Louisiana State at Auburn, 4 p.m. (FSN)
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thursday, Feb. 18
Florida at Kentucky, 7 p.m.
Mississippi at Arkansas, 8 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Louisiana State, 8 p.m. (FSN)
Tennessee at Alabama, 9 p.m. (CSS)
Sunday, Feb. 21
Georgia at Florida, 1 p.m.
South Carolina at Kentucky, 2 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Mississippi, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Alabama at Arkansas, 3 p.m.
Auburn at Mississippi State, 3 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 22
Louisiana State at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Florida at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (CSS)
Thursday, Feb. 25
Georgia at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Kentucky at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (FSN)
Mississippi State at Alabama, 7 p.m.
Auburn at Mississippi, 8 p.m.
Arkansas at Louisiana State, 9 p.m. (CSS)
Sunday, Feb. 28
Alabama at Florida, 3 p.m. (CSS)
South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 1 p.m. (FSN)
Arkansas at Georgia, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Kentucky at Auburn, 3 p.m.
Mississippi State at Louisiana State, 3 p.m.
Mississippi at Tennessee, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
SEC WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga.
Thursday, March 4
Game 1: Seed No. 9 vs. Seed No. 8, 12 p.m. (FSS)
Game 2: Seed No. 10 vs. Seed No. 7, 2:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 3: Seed No. 12 vs. Seed No. 5, 6:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 4: Seed No. 11 vs. Seed No. 6, 9 p.m. (FSS)
Friday, March 5
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Seed No. 1, 12 p.m. (FSS)
Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. Seed No. 2, 2:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Seed No. 4, 6:30 p.m. (FSS)
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Seed No. 3, 9 p.m. (FSS)
Saturday, March 6
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday, March 7
Game 11: Championship, Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)