Slow Second Half Halts Alabama Upset Bid
2/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Thursday, February 23, 2006
BOX SCORE
TUSCALOOSA ?? In an emotional night in Coleman Coliseum, Alabama hung tough with No. 3 LSU for 20 minutes, but a second-half offensive display by the Lady Tigers was too much for the Tide and LSU ran away with an 86-61 win in SEC women's basketball action tonight.
"I thought we really struggled getting five players on the same page tonight," Smith said. "We would play well at stretches, but we never seemed to get all five players thinking alike all night."
The Crimson Tide came out inspired after a pre-game tribute featuring the Tide's lone senior, center Dee Merriweather. Merriweather, who has missed just one game in 111 as an Alabama player, tied a career high with three assists in her final game in Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama utilized the momentum and stayed close for the first half behind a fine offensive effort. The Crimson Tide knocked down 44 percent of its field-goal attempts to LSU's 44.1 percent and was down by just six, 37-31, at the break.
Just as in the previous outing against the Lady Tigers, a 79-43 pasting in Baton Rouge in mid-January, LSU was aided by Tide miscues.
While shooting at nearly the same percentage throughout much of the game, the Lady Tigers ended up with 18 more field goal attempts than did Alabama. Most of that was because of 30 Alabama turnovers off of some intense half-court defensive pressure.
In the second half it was just too much LSU. To be more specific, it was too much of the Lady Tigers' two All-American candidates, senior Seimone Augustus and 6-6 sophomore forward Sylvia Fowles.
"Obviously, those are two of the better players in the country," Smith said. "They seemed to make every shot and were outstanding tonight, as they usually are."
Augustus, the defending Consensus National Player of the Year, was on fire all night. She drained 15-of-23 from the field en route to 32 points, the most by any individual Tide opposing player this season. Augustus had 20 at the half and tallied four assists and two steals in the game.
When Augustus wasn't burying outside jumpers, the Lady Tigers were lobbing it inside to Fowles, who was equally as effective. Fowles scored 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting, snagged 13 rebounds and blocked three shots for good measure.
The inside-outside duo scored 60 of LSU's 81 points and took 41 of the team's 66 field goal attempts.
The efforts of Augustus and Fowles helped LSU shoot 59.4 percent from the floor in the final stanza and led the team to a 49-30 advantage over the Tide in the second half.
For Alabama, Lauren Hill posted the best offensive numbers of the evening. Hill, a junior forward from New Orleans, poured in 17 points and grabbed five rebounds on the evening. It was her 13th game in double figures in the scoring column in 2005-06, the highest total on the team this season.
Navonda Moore, who has been red-hot for Bama as of late and scored 31 points against No. 5 Tennessee on Sunday, recorded her seventh-straight game in double figures for the Tide by tallying 13 against third-ranked LSU.
Harriet Barnes added 10 for the Tide, while Leah Drury had seven and Kate Mastin chipped in with eight.
Merriweather led the Tide on the boards with nine caroms and paced the team in assists with three.
The Crimson Tide will close the regular-season schedule on Sunday, Jan. 26, with a trip to Lexington, Ky., to face the Wildcats of Kentucky. Tip-off is slated for noon central and the game will be televised by Fox Sports Net South.
The 2006 SEC Tournament will be played in the ALLTEL Arena in North Little Rock, Ark. Competition will begin on Thursday, March 2 at a time yet to be determined.
