LSU Women’s Basketball Wins SEC Showdown
The LSU Tigers women’s basketball team defeated the Tennessee Lady Volunteers 82-77 in the SEC showdown. The Lady Volunteers recently upset the UConn Huskies 80-76 and were looking to capitalize off this momentum; however, although the game was plagued by lead changes, LSU ultimately carried their team to the win. This drops Tennessee's record to 17-5 and boosts LSU’s to 24-1. Ruby Whitehorn and Jewel Spear led Tennessee with 21 and 19 points, respectively, while Kailyn GIlbert and Mikaylah Williams led LSU with 23 and 16 points.
Both LSU and Tennessee started off strong in the first half, but Tennessee made it a habit to turn the ball over, especially at the beginning of the second quarter. This was a result of their fast pace, which at times felt rushed. Furthermore, their haste was accompanied by subpar shot selection, resulting in an LSU run. At times, Tennessee appeared too overzealous in their shooting, and at other times, perhaps not zealous enough. Tennessee point guard Samara Spencer only attempted one shot throughout the game, ending with zero points, despite her regular average of 11.0 points per game. LSU, on the other hand, had better ball movement and more composure, making Tennessee pay for their lack thereof.
Tennessee began to take over in the second half, and were especially dominant in the paint, which forward Lazaria “Zee” Spearman made sure of. However, this intensity was met by LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, who recorded a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Mjracle Sheppard, coming off the bench with eight points. This resulted in LSU going on a 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, which put the lead safely back into LSU’s hands. Although Tennessee was able to come back within five points with one minute left, their decisions in clutch-time were a bit questionable. Tennessee took their time to select an accurate shot with 40 seconds left, but took too long to do it, leaving little time leftover to score additional points. LSU and Tennessee will meet again later this month on February 12th in another SEC showdown, and we can surely expect it will be as entertaining as all their previous matchups.
