Chancellor sees positive signs in Lady Tigers’ loss

• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jan 5, 2009 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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When the LSU Lady Tigers left for Connecticut last week, they had six wins and four losses. When they returned home Saturday night, they had six wins and five losses.

That’s a fact.

No matter, LSU coach Van Chancellor liked what he saw Saturday in Hartford, where unanimous No. 1 Connecticut handed the Lady Tigers a 76-63 defeat after trailing for much of the first half.

“It feels like we won,” Chancellor said Sunday, reflecting on LSU’s performance.

If the opponent hadn’t been UConn, LSU very well might have.

The Huskies (13-0) entered Saturday essentially unchallenged. They’d averaged 92.4 points per game. They’d scored their 12 wins by an average of 36.2 points.

Chancellor, a former WNBA coach, called guard Renee Montgomery, forward Maya Moore and center Tina Charles future lottery picks. He called UConn one of the top five teams in women’s college basketball history.

But there LSU went, swapping leads with the Huskies for the first 12 minutes. There LSU went, holding them to 76 points, their lowest scoring output of the season.

All this on CBS, LSU’s first national TV appearance since an ESPN2 loss to Notre Dame in the opener. All this before 13,922 at the XL Center, with UConn riding a 30-game regular-season home winning streak.

All this on one day’s rest. A travel day.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that Connecticut is the best team in the country,” Chancellor said. “We played them toe-to-toe.”

Georgia Tech lost to the Huskies by 11 in the Nov. 16 opener. Florida State lost by 12 last month, after trailing by as much as 21 points in the second half.

No team led the Huskies as late as the Lady Tigers, who lost a 26-24 edge 8:17 before intermission.