Jan. 31, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La. – South Carolina battled early but saw No. 8 LSU go on an 18-0 run early in the second half and cruise to a 67-37 victory tonight at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Junior forward Demetress Adams led the Gamecocks (11-10, 0-6 SEC) with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Lady Tigers (17-3, 6-0 SEC) shot 45.5 percent from the field with Sylvia Fowles and Quianna Chaney leading the way with 14 points apiece.
The Gamecocks battled the Lady Tigers early in the first half, holding a 6-4 lead at the first media timeout and trailing just 10-8 at the second. After Jordan Jones tied the game with a deep jumper from the left side, the Gamecocks suffered a three-minute scoring drought, during which LSU tacked on eight unanswered points for an 18-10 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. Lakesha Tolliver ended the surge with a pair of free throws, but another scoreless four minutes saw the Gamecocks’ deficit grow to 16 points at 12-28. The Lady Tigers used a 3-point barrage to compound a series of Gamecock turnovers during the spurt.
Brionna Dickerson hit a long jumper from the top of the arc, and Demetress Adams cut the margin to 12 with a layup off a feed from Ilona Burgrova in the high post. LSUs Sylvia Fowles banged home a layup from the right block before Jewel May closed the half with a pair of power layups of her own to pull the Gamecocks within 11 at 31-20 at the break.
The second half started slowly for South Carolina as the Lady Tigers steadily built a 27-point lead using dribble penetration to knife through the defense and steady 3-point shooting. After Tolliver’s mid-range jumper from the right baseline made it a 26-40 game with 16:11 left in the period, LSU put together an 18-0 run as the Lady Tigers could not miss from the field while the Gamecocks could not hit a bucket over the five-minute stretch.
South Carolina struggled shooting, hitting just 35.6 percent from the field, and did not make a 3-pointer in the game. Adams was the only player in double figures, and the Gamecocks lost a game in which she posted a double-double for the first time in her career.
The Gamecocks return home to host Arkansas on Feb. 3. Tipoff at the Colonial Center is slated for 3 p.m.
