Jan. 14, 2009

Box Score

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Tasmin Mitchell had a career-high 30 points along with 14 rebounds, and LSU won its Southeastern Conference home opener 85-68 over South Carolina on Wednesday night.

LSU (13-3, 1-1) has won 16 straight games at home, including the final three of last season. Garrett Temple and Bo Spencer each scored 10 points for the Tigers, who ended a two-game losing skid.

Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick scored 18 points apiece for South Carolina (12-3, 1-1) which saw its three-game winning streak end. Dominique Archie added 17 points for the Gamecocks, who shot only 36 percent in the first half and could not overcome a 40-22 halftime deficit.

Downey’s two 3-pointers fueled a 10-2 South Carolina run that cut LSU’s lead to 62-52 with about 6:30 left, but LSU went on a 7-0 run, capped by Chris Johnson’s fast-break layup as he was fouled, to go back up 71-54.