HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIA!

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Happy Birthday to Tia Eason! How did she celebrate? By busting out a great mile time this morning!

Filed under  //  Off the Court  
Posted by Bill Martin  

LADY TIGERS BECOME VIDEO STARS

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COACH LANDERS (9-12-09):

Another video shoot today! Part of the new promotion blitz being put together by our Marketing staff. It's really exciting stuff and I think the players are really enjoying their role as actresses! Today's shoot took place in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. We had some shots in the locker room, the hallway of our complex and on the main floor. Today's stars included Allison, Boogie and KG. I really can't wait to see the final production!

 

 

Filed under  //  Marketing & Promotions   Media  
Posted by Bill Martin  

JOHN HAWIE ENDOWS SCHOLARSHIP IN THE NAME OF COACH SUE GUNTER

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COACH STARKEY (10-12-09):
One of my favorite people in the world is John Hawie. He not only is a support of LSU athletics but has been a tremendous supporter of Lady Tiger Basketball. In fact, John has become someone that has grown to love the game of women's basketball on all levels and I always enjoy talking about our game with him. John is someone who has been supporting our efforts for a long time -- before it was fashionable but recently he took it to an entirely greater level. It was announced at the half-time of the LSU-Florida football game that John would be endowing a scholarship in the name of Coach Sue Gunter as part of the Tiger Athletic Foundation's Foundation of Champions. The idea of endowing the scholarship in Coach Gunter's name came from John and his love and respect for her and her accomplishments. The financial support is truly important but his understanding of our program's legacy is priceless -- THANKS JOHN!!!

Filed under  //  Community   In the Classroom   Sue Gunter  
Posted by Bill Martin  

MY LAST MILE RUN!

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ALLSION HIGHTOWER (10-12-09):

Hello Lady Tiger fans!!

 

So today was a very exciting day, it was my last 6am mile run and conditioning!!!!! Let me tell you, I've been waiting 4 years for this day. Leading up to the run I was pretty nervous -- I had the bubble guts, but once Coach (Melissa) Moore said "go" it all went away. All I could hear was loud breathing and my thoughts of "I only have 3 more laps to go" (lol) But overall and Nicci and I were extremely excited to finish our last 6 AM conditioning.
 
Next up is finally getting to practice and reaching our goals, this is only the beginning of what i hope to be a great season.

 

Filed under  //  Player's Post   Strength & Conditioning  
Posted by Bill Martin  

THE HIGHTOWER BOWLING SCOUTING REPORT

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KATHERINE GRAHAM (10-12-09):
If I had to sum up Allison Hightower in one word I don't think I can! She is ALWAYS the life of the party! With anything she does she goes hard! Although she is a great basketball player her bowling skills need some improvement, but whether she gets a strike or bowls a gutter ball (which is most common), she has a dance or a gesture that is appropriate for the occasion. Always dancing and always making a joke is two things that you will commonly see her doing...rolling a strike is not!

 

Filed under  //  Off the Court   Player's Post  
Posted by Bill Martin  

Big Syl Helps Team USA to Title

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Sylvia Fowles grabbed a team high 12 rebounds and dominated on the defensive end to lead the USA Women’s National Team (3-0) as they handed host UMMC Ekaterinburg (2-1) a 78-63 defeat on its home court to win its third game in as many days and claim the Ekaterinburg International Invitational championship Sunday evening.

Geno Auriemma about Sylvia Fowley’s rebound and defense?

"Sylvia’s capable of having an impact in the game every time down the floor at both ends of the floor. That’s the biggest team we’ve played since we’ve come together and we needed every one of Sylvia’s rebounds and we needed her to do exactly what she did to today. I hope she builds on this because this was great performance by her."

Q & A WITH BIG SYL ABOUT THE WIN

The team got off to a good start and you were really rebounding in the game.
"We got off to good start but my rebounding had a lot to do with coach challenging me. Yesterday I played like six minutes and didn’t get a rebound so he didn’t play me in the second half so it was a challenge to go out there and do well for my team. But at the same time everybody was on the same page and we wanted to get it done from the get go."

What about the 17-0 run that finished off the second quarter?
"That was a good feeling only because the United States always gets dished that it can’t get it done and everything doesn’t always work in our favor. But just for us to be on the same page and for us to utilize our abilities to do what we can do, I enjoyed every moment on it."

The U.S. was short on post players today with Candace being injured and Asjha being required to play for Ekaterinburg. Were you concerned about that and can you talk about playing their bigs, was it a physical contest?
"It was bo
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th physical and mentally tough too because they try to out think you. For us not having all of our post players was kind of a concern, but at the same time coach already had installed in our minds that it wasn’t a concern or a worry, that if we went out and got it done then we wouldn’t have to worry about our lack of post players."

Were you focusing today on just rebounding?
"Yes I was focusing today on rebounding. If shots would have gone up and we would have made it, then that would have been a plus, but my main focus was to crash the boards every time hard and get boards for my team; and play defense as well."

How rewarding was it to come away with the championship after 10 days of training?
"It’s good, it says a lot about our coaching staff and also our players and for everyone to suck up their role and not BS about their minutes or anything like that. We just came together and we wanted to get it done and doing it in 10 days says a lot about trying to come together as a team."
 

Filed under  //  Sylvia Fowles   Team USA  
Posted by Bill Martin  

Up And At 'Em

COACH STARKEY (10-12-09):

Bright and early this morning as our team prepares for our last 6 AM conditioning workout with Coach Moore. As is our annual tradition, we finish out our fall conditioning on the first Monday before practice starts. And, as another part of that tradition, we will closeout it out with a mile run. Each player has an individual target time that they must meet. We also run the mile on the very first day of conditioning. We have a target time there but it is more lenient -- just something to make sure they followed an off-season program. Today's mile times are very tough. The mile run as a conditioning has some benefit but not nearly as much as other areas that we utilize for conditioning. But the mile run is a great way to measure of our mental toughness. Can we dig down for 6 to 7 minutes and give it everything we have? Of course we can -- IT'S THE LADY TIGER WAY!

Filed under  //  Strength & Conditioning  
Posted by Bill Martin  

MEEK GOES FOR A RING TONIGHT!!!

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From WNBA.com, Temeka Johnson is blogging about tonight's championship game. The game will be on ESPN2 at 8:00 PM Central. Here's what Meek had to say about the game:


The victory in Game 4 started from the beginning. We came out aggressive, the push was good, the energy and intensity was there and we were able to get a lot of spacing and create things for ourselves. We did a pretty good job of executing all aspects of our game plan in Game 4 and that’s why we came away with the win.

We got off to a great start and that was key for us. It helped us set the tone and play our style of basketball. Otherwise, we didn’t really try to do anything differently from what we’ve tried to do in previous games this series, other than maybe to defend a little better.

I was able to start the game strong, score some points and find my teammates in spots where they could take good shots. Of course, I got into some foul trouble and which didn’t allow me to stay on the floor as much as I wanted to be out there. That’s something that I will definitely be paying attention to in Game 5, although it’s not something I typically have a problem with.

But we can’t be too happy with our Game 4 win. We haven’t done anything yet. The series is tied, 2-2. We still need to stay focused and get this victory here on Friday. That’s the beauty of this team. We’re not going to lose our focus. This is for all the marbles and we’ll be ready.

With Game 4 being on Wednesday, yesterday was a travel day and today we have to go right back at it with no practice day in between. But at this point in time, it doesn’t even matter.

There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t control it. You’ve got to just come in, string your shoes up and come ready to play tonight.

I expect Game 5 to be an even more intense game than Game 4. Both teams are playing for the same thing, so we expect Indiana to come out aggressive and have a lot of energy. It’ll be a good game for the fans.

Speaking of the fans, I expect a loud crowd for Game 5, and an atmosphere that will be very fun and enjoyable to play in.

Filed under  //  Temeka Johnson   WNBA  
Posted by Bill Martin  

BIG SYL LEADS USA WITH 14 POINTS AND 7 REBOUNDS

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In only 18 minutes of play, Sylvia Fowles tallied 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and picked off 3 steals to lead Team USA to 100-81 victory over Czech professional team ZVVC UKA Prague in Ekaterinburg International Invitational in Russia.


Here are some quotes from Syl:

How did you feel out there in your first game?
"I felt pretty good individually and then as a team I think we did a good job. Just to get out there with those girls and to do what we did, in our first time playing together, I was a little excited but we still have a lot to work on."

In the USA’s post players all together, there seems to be a lot of different combinations, a lot of different strengths.
"That’s a secret weapon for our team. We do have a lot of bigs and each of us does different things. To have a big out on the wing like Candace Parker and Candace Dupree, and Asja (Jones) and Swin (Cash), you can switch them up and I love that we have combinations and teams have to be prepared for whatever we give them."

Did it take an adjustment to get back in the swing of international basketball?
"I kind of went with the flow. I would say that in the first five minutes it was kind of different, they kept calling the traveling calls so I had to think about ‘I’m back overseas so you have to watch your feet a little bit and watch what you do.’"

It seemed like you were getting the ball in great inside position.
"I felt like I was getting the ball where I wanted but I felt like I was missing too many chippies and that comes with just being patient and taking your time and reading the defense. But it’s like I said, this was our first game and I’ll be better prepared for the next one. "


The U.S. continues the round-robin tournament against Euroleasing Sopron on Saturday and caps the tournament against host and 2009 EuoLeague third place finisher UMMC Ekaterinburg on Sunday.

Click here for box score and more info:

Filed under  //  Sylvia Fowles   Team USA  
Posted by Bill Martin