Lady Tigers' seniors have shot for third SEC title in four years

• By SCOTT RABALAIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Feb 28, 2008 - Page: 1C

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Sylvia Fowles’ mother, Arrittio, is in from Miami to be with her daughter on the court for Senior Night.

The All-American center wants to make sure her mother knows that after the flowers and farewells, there are more important things at stake for the LSU Lady Tigers at 7 p.m. today against visiting Arkansas.

“Every day she asks me, ‘What’s the SEC title?’ ” Fowles said. “I said, ‘Mom, it’s just like our (high school district).’ ‘OK, now I get it.’ ”

“Big Syl” led her high school teams to district titles all four years she played.

Tonight, she can help the No. 6-ranked Lady Tigers (23-4, 12-0 SEC) to their third SEC championship in her four seasons here — the only SEC regular-season titles LSU has won in women’s basketball.

“For us to have that privilege is an honor and a blessing to the program,” Fowles said.

Just another honor in the sights of an eight-woman LSU senior class that has set the standard for success in the program’s history.
None of the eight — including fifth-year guards Marian Whitfield and Khalilah Mitchell — have gone a year without going to the Final Four.

Their overall record the last four seasons: 117-19. Their SEC record: 49-5.

“As a freshman I didn’t know what it was all about,” Fowles said. “As the years pass I realize it gets tougher and tougher.”

All LSU needs is a win over Arkansas (17-10, 2-10) or Sunday at Mississippi State to lock down at least a share of the conference title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

Now we’ll see how greedy the Lady Tigers can be. A sweep of their last two games would allow them to join the 2005 team as the only squads in LSU history to go 14-0 in SEC play. And it would deny traditional SEC heavyweight Tennessee (25-2, 11-1) a chance to share the regular-season crown.

This senior class — which also includes Southern Lab graduate Quianna Chaney, Erica White, RaShonta LeBlanc, Ashley Thomas and Mesha Williams — has continued the winning tradition built by former LSU All-Americans Seimone Augustus and Temeka Johnson and actually built upon it.

“The first time we won it was exciting, but we knew if we continued to do what we’ve done we could get more of these,” Chaney said. “It’s not just settling for the first one. This year we have an opportunity for the third one, and that’s what we’re going to do.”