LSU goes undefeated in SEC

• By WILLIAM WEATHERS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Mar 3, 2008

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STARKVILLE, Miss. — Wrapping up the Southeastern Conference’s regular-season championship undefeated was never a written-in-stone objective for the LSU women’s basketball team this season, only a certain standard of play.

More than two months later, not only did the Lady Tigers complete their journey, they did so unscathed.

Sixth-ranked LSU shook off the effects of midgame run from Mississippi State and put together an eight-minute stretch — highlighted by a 22-2 blitz — that carried the Lady Tigers to a 64-49 victory Sunday and the outright SEC championship before 1,516 at MSU’s Humphrey Coliseum.

LSU (25-4) concluded SEC play with a 14-0 mark — marking the program’s second such showing in four years in the nation’s premier league. The top-seeded Lady Tigers now face either Ole Miss or Mississippi State at noon Friday in the SEC tournament in Nashville.

“Our goal is to come out and play our game,” LSU point guard Erica White said. “It (the 14-0 mark) just happened that way. We started off with Arkansas (76-54 win) and had a really good game and we started to build momentum. From there the ball just kept rolling. We carried that momentum throughout the SEC season, and you look up and we’re 14-0 this season.”

Once LSU earned a share of the SEC title after Thursday’s 83-46 blowout of Arkansas, it became crystal clear exactly how the Lady Tigers wanted to end the regular season.

When they woke up to eat breakfast Sunday, each player was given a tangible reminder of what was ahead — placards decorated in purple and gold that read Legacy: 14-0.

“We’ve been really hammering them on going undefeated and I’m really proud of them for that,” said LSU first-year coach Van Chancellor, who enjoyed his second career SEC title and first since 1992 while at Ole Miss. “This is a tough league to go undefeated in.”

All-American center Sylvia Fowles reached a pair of personal milestones in victory. The senior became the SEC’s career leader in double-doubles with 79 — scoring a game-high 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds — to break a tie with Georgia’s Janet Harris.

Fowles, who now has 2,093 career points, also became the school leader in rebounds with 1,478 after surpassing Julie Gross’ total of 1,466. She needs 48 to surpass Kentucky’s Valerie Still to become the SEC’s leader in that category.

Senior guard Quianna Chaney scored 18 on the strength of four 3-pointers while White added 10 for the Lady Tigers, who shot 54 percent for the game.

“Our main concern was to pull out a win no matter how,” said Fowles, who was 10-of-12 from the field and scored 12 points in the opening half. “Just make sure we win.”

LSU, which enjoyed a record 84-31 walloping of State on Jan. 20, found itself tied at 42-42 with the Lady Bulldogs (16-13, 4-10) with 11:52 remaining. That was a far departure for the Lady Tigers, who opened the game on an 11-0 spurt and didn’t allow a basket until the 12:08 mark.