Lady Tigers utilize defense to defeat New Orleans
BATON ROUGE -- Senior preseason All-American guard Allison Hightower scored 20 points and LSU’s dominant defense returned to form as the fifth-ranked Lady Tiger basketball team remained unbeaten and defeated New Orleans, 57-33, on Sunday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.LSU (7-0) won its 32nd consecutive game versus an opponent from the state of the Louisiana and remained undefeated against in-state opponents this decade. The Lady Tigers last lost to an opponent from Louisiana on Dec. 31, 1999 at Tulane.The Lady Privateers (6-4) dropped their sixth straight game to LSU and remained winless against the Lady Tigers since March 1, 1993. UNO tallied its lowest point output of the season and was held 27 points below its season average.After surrendering 65 and 74 points to Tulane and Louisiana Tech, respectively, in its last two games, LSU returned to its attacking defensive form. The Lady Tigers, who lead the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense for the sixth straight season, held UNO to a season-low 33.3 percent (13-of-39) from the floor.“Looks like our defense returned,” said LSU head coach Van Chancellor, who won his 496th career collegiate game. “The things we wanted to improve, we improved. Offensively, we couldn’t throw one in the Atlantic Ocean, but we’ve been shooting the ball really well lately. When you have a layoff, what usually leaves you is an offensive rhythm.”Sophomore forward Courtney Jones turned in a season-high 10 points, and fellow forward Taylor Turnbow had a solid game defensively with six rebounds, a block and a steal in 22 minutes. Sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett grabbed a game-high eight boards.
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