Regardless of details, my heart breaks for Vandebilt’s players
March 5, 2013LSU tops Nicholls in pitcher’s duel
March 5, 2013
Midway through SEC play, the LSU women’s basketball team didn’t even look like they’d make the NCAA Tournament.
Flash-forward a month and the Lady Tigers are now one of the hottest teams in America – the team no one wants to face when March Madness rolls around.
In the past three weeks, LSU has caught fire in advance of this week’s SEC Tournament.
The Lady Tigers scored February home wins against then-No. 9 Georgia and then-No. 7 Kentucky in their run of recent success.
Sandwiched between those wins were also triumphs of Missouri and Mississippi State – both on the road.
The icing on the cake may have come in LSU’s most recent game where the Lady Tigers overcame a double-digit road deficit and scored a 67-52 win against No. 13 Texas A&M – the sixth-straight win for the team.
“We’ve always known that we could play with some of the best teams in the country,” LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell said. “It was just a matter of us now taking that extra step to beat some of the best teams in the country.”
The Lady Tigers’ push for the NCAA Tournament actually started following a heartbreaking loss.
LSU led powerhouse Tennessee by three points with just a minute to play in the teams’ meeting on Feb. 7.
But thanks to missed free throws and turnovers, the Lady Vols rallied and won 64-62.
Following the game, Caldwell said she was proud of her team’s effort.
But SEC basketball is a result-driven business and the setback pushed LSU to 13-10 on the season and just 4-6 in league play.
“This one will be bitter because we had a chance and we had the right people shooting at the line,” Caldwell said. “I fully felt this game was in our control.”
Since the bitter defeat, everything has been sweet in Baton Rouge and LSU closed the regular season on a roll.
The Lady Tigers’ offense has been a large spark in the February success.
LSU averaged 71.2 points per game in its five-game stretch from Feb. 10 – 28 (all wins).
In the final three games of that span, the Lady Tigers were even better, averaging 77.0 points per game.
The key to that offensive push has been patience, according to junior post player and former Vandebilt Catholic standout Theresa Plaisance.
She said the team is being more deliberate with the ball and making decisions, which is leading to more open shots.
“It’s all about patience,” Plaisance said. “Right now, we’re running low on numbers, so we have to not necessarily conserve energy, but also not play fast-paced where other teams are more comfortable. … We just have to take them out of their comfort zone by playing our game and being patient with what we do.”
But while the Lady Tigers are scoring more points, they are also allowing fewer, too.
LSU’s defense smothered No. 9 Georgia to just 54 points in its Feb. 10 upset win.
The Lady Tigers also held Mississippi State to 41 points and Alabama to 42 points.
“I feel like we just keep getting better and better,” LSU junior guard Jeanne Kenney said. “And if you are on the right path this time of the season, it’s a good path to be on.”
Offense and defense are wonderful, but inspiration helps, too.
The Lady Tigers are also currently rallying around Kenney as she grieves the loss of her grandfather.
The Baton Rouge native has battled injuries all season.
Back in the lineup, but still not 100 percent, Kenney gave a tear-jerking performance in the Lady Tigers’ 77-72 win against No. 7 Kentucky last weekend scoring a career-high 22 points and hitting all five of her 3-point shots.
It was the first game she had played following her grandfather’s passing.
“Jeanne Kenney responded like her grandfather would have wanted her to,” Caldwell said following the game. “Today, she was one of the most courageous players that I have had the opportunity to coach in her display of just being out there on the court. … The fact that she came back and was able to play today was a testimony to where she is as a player, but more importantly, where and who she is as a person.”
“He came to every game since I was young,” Kenney recalled after the win. “I remember every time I would look up and we would catch eyes, he would just give me a little salute. He’s going to be missed, but he always wore a little No. 5 pin. … He just always kept telling me to hold my follow through and to stop taking so many charges because I’ll get hurt.”
So with good play, combined with inspiration, LSU is cruising toward this weekend’s SEC Tournament.
Regardless of what happens there, the Lady Tigers are a virtual lock to reach the NCAA Tournament, where they will play at home for the opening two rounds.
What a difference a month can make in college basketball.
“Even though we started out slow at the beginning of the season, we are picking it up and becoming tighter,” LSU senior Adrienne Webb said. “We still have something to gain. That is getting a higher seed in the (NCAA) Tournament.”
LSU freshman Danielle Ballard scrambles for a loose ball during a game against Ole Miss this season. After posting just a 13-10 record through the first two months of the season, the Lady Tigers are now red-hot and have won six-straight games to close the season. Of those wins, three have come against opponents ranked in the Top-15.
