Lady Tigers claim road win at Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. -- LSU senior guard Allison Hightower is living up to her preseason Southeastern Conference Player of the Year billing, and the Lady Tigers top scoring defense has returned to form with a second consecutive SEC blowout victory.Hightower scored 24 of her game-high 29 points in the first half, and the 23rd-ranked LSU women's basketball team separated the score with a 17-0 run as the Lady Tigers cruised past Auburn, 75-51, on Sunday afternoon at Beard-Eaves Coliseum.LSU (17-7, 6-6 SEC) moved back to .500 in league play with four games remaining in the regular season, three of which will be played in Baton Rouge. Auburn (12-14, 3-10), the defending SEC regular season champion, continued its recent slide with its fourth straight loss and eighth in the past nine games."We played really well," said LSU head coach Van Chancellor. "We shot the ball as well as we could in the first half. (Allison) Hightower was as good as I've ever seen her. She's been red hot for us. We did a great job at the free throw line and defensively. These have been two big wins on the road (at Florida and at Auburn). This sets up a huge game on Thursday against Vanderbilt."Hightower buried 4-of-6 three-pointers and finished 11-of-16 from the entire floor in 31 minutes. In her past six games, Hightower has averaged 25.5 points, five 20-plus point games and she has combined for 20 three-pointers and 11 steals during that span."I just took what the defense gave me," said Hightower, who tied Temeka Johnson for seventh place in LSU career games played (129). "I was feeling it out there today, and glad we got a win. I've been confident shooting the ball and I have worked really hard improving my shot."LaSondra Barrett added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Freshman Adrienne Webb reached double-figures for the second straight game with 10 points, and Jasmine Nelson came off the bench to block three shots.On the heels of a dominating 70-30 win at Florida on Thursday, LSU broke the game open midway through the first period. Katherine Graham drained a jumper from the top of the key and Hightower then racked up back-to-back steals and fast break layups to put the Lady Tigers ahead 18-6 with 8:07 remaining. Hightower culminated the 17-0 spurt with a 3-pointer.Read Bill Martin's complete article (along with box score): http://bit.ly/cWPZCy