Tough test could benefit LSU

• By SCOTT RABALAIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Mar 26, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:50 a.m.

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Too much adversity is the harbinger of bad things in the NCAA tournament.

It either means you’re going to lose or are soon going to be heading to the offseason.

Against Marist in the second round of the NCAA New Orleans regional Monday, the No. 2-seeded LSU Lady Tigers were pushed but never surpassed by No. 7 Marist.

Leading only 29-27 at intermission and 36-34 three minutes into the second half, LSU surged to a double-digit lead (45-34) with a 9-0 run to take command in what eventually turned into a 68-49 victory at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Instead of turning the game’s more anxious stretches into even more worry, LSU coach Van Chancellor turned it into a positive.

“We won the perfect game,” Chancellor said Tuesday. “We did some things, adjusted. We ran a play five straight times that we hadn’t run all year.

“A win like that gives you confidence.”

Confidence the Lady Tigers (29-5) will carry 80 miles down the road to New Orleans Arena on Saturday for a regional semifinal matchup with No. 3-seeded Oklahoma State (27-7), a 73-72 overtime winner Monday against No. 11 Florida State.

The other game in New Orleans will pit the winner of Tuesday’s late game between No. 1-seeded North Carolina and No. 8 Georgia and No. 4 Louisville (26-9), an 80-63 winner Tuesday over Kansas State.

Teams were expected to be assigned tip-off times for Saturday either late Tuesday night or today.

The first regional semifinal will be at 11 a.m., with the second set to begin about 1:30 p.m.

The New Orleans regional final will be 6:30 p.m. Monday. The winner advances to the Women’s Final Four, April 6 and 8 in Tampa, Fla.

LSU’s quest for a record-tying fifth straight Final Four appearance remains very much alive, though it was put to the test by an outmanned but determined Marist team that reached the Sweet 16 last year.