Seimone's Greatest Moment #3: The Charge
Seimone Augustus is the greatest player to ever don an LSU Lady Tiger basketball jersey, and this Sunday she will become the first female student-athlete in LSU history to have her jersey retired when LSU hosts No. 4 Tennessee at 5 p.m. CST on ESPNU. The jersey retirement takes place at 4:30 p.m. Seimone Augustus' career was filled with brilliant moments in her four years. Defining which lasting images rank at the top is no easy chore, but this week on LSUsports.net, we will do our best to remember some of those great moments.Our panel of LSU associate head coach Bob Starkey, women's basketball SID Bill Martin, senior associate sports information director Kent Lowe, radio announcer Patrick Wright and former LSU women's basketball SID Brian Miller, who covered Augustus' four years, has selected a top five.The top five moments will be unveiled throughout the week leading up to Sunday's 4:30 p.m. jersey retirement.Today, we take a look at No. 3.On March 27, 2006, with a third straight trip to the NCAA Final Four on the line, Seimone Augustus took it upon herself to provide the LSU Lady Tigers with one of the program's most defining defensive plays.LSU was leading Stanford 60-59. Off an LSU turnover, the Cardinal took over with 11.5 seconds remaining in the game. Augustus then drew a charging foul with 4.8 seconds left and followed that with two free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining to send LSU to its third straight Final Four by a score of 62-59.Stanford's Candice Wiggins dribbled past LSU's Scholanda Hoston to the elbow, where her progress was bombarded by Augustus as she passed to a wide-open Krista Rappahahn. The sharp-shooting Rappahahn buried a three-pointer, but the official blew the whistle for a charge long before."It's just about taking risks," Augustus said. "We had just discussed shooters and not letting them get open, and I saw the opportunity. I saw Candice (Wiggins), she was kind of out-of-control for a minute and I saw an opportunity to take a charge.""I knew it was coming, we make that same play all the time," Wiggins said in the postgame press conference. "I was just a second too late, you know and the pass was there. I knew it was coming though, I just couldn't get there in time."Augustus, who added to her legacy, scored 12 of LSU's final 15 points in the last 7:31 to single-handedly carry the Lady Tigers past the fading Cardinal down the stretch.The senior finished with a game-high 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting, blocking a career-best three shots, grabbing four rebounds and adding two steals. The Baton Rouge native took home a large trophy and the San Antonio Regional's Most Outstanding Player honor. LSU would go on to face Duke in the NCAA Final Four in Boston.Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/8J1Ern