No. 24 Gamecocks Fall 58-48 at LSU

Jan. 12, 2012

BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 24 South Carolina suffered its first SEC loss of the season in a 58-48 defeat at LSU Thursday night. The Gamecocks led 27-20 at halftime but saw the Lady Tigers’ defense, rated third in the nation behind South Carolina, step up in the second half to allow just 24.1 percent field goal shooting in the period. Aleighsa Welch led the offense with 13 points to go with her seven rebounds. La’Keisha Sutton added 10 points to the effort despite foul trouble limiting her action in the second half.

The first half went in fits and starts for both teams, but the Gamecocks were able to overcome their lulls to take a 27-20 lead into the locker room. With two of the nation’s top three defenses squaring off against each other, scoring was at a premium early. South Carolina broke through with the first run with a 12-2 run to take a 17-8 lead with 10:49 left in the half. Scoring came thanks to a concerted effort to get to the rim. The run began with a pair of free throws from Sutton, who was fouled on a drive to the rim. On the next possession, Welch found Ashley Bruner under the basket with a good high-low look, and Sancheon White made the Lady Tigers pay for a turnover with a baseline drive for an 11-6 South Carolina edge.

LSU’s LaSondra Barrett briefly interrupted the run with a move in the lane, but Welch went right back to work on the other end. The freshman worked her way free of the defense for a bucket from the right block, and Ieasia Walker drained a pull-up jumper in transition off a defensive rebound. Another missed shot from the Lady Tigers kept the surge going. Markeshia Grant drove hard up the lane and through the collapsing defense dropped it off for Welch, who made it a 17-8 Gamecock edge.

The Lady Tigers took advantage of their height on the perimeter, picking off a handful of Gamecock passes to mount an 8-2 run that was interrupted only by a pair of free throws from Sutton, who drew a foul battling with the 6-foot-2 Barrett for a rebound on the Lady Tigers’ offensive end. LSU’s Krystal Forthan made it a three-point game at 19-16 with a free-throw line jumper with 5:29, but the Gamecocks closed the half with an 8-4 surge that included a shot-clock-beating 3-pointer from Sutton and a buzzer-beating turnaround jumper from Walker after a steal from Charenee Stephens shut down the Lady Tigers on what they thought would be the final possession of the game.

LSU took advantage of five straight Gamecock turnovers early in the second half to pull within 30-26 with 15:54 to play. The run extended to 21-8, which put the Lady Tigers up 41-35 with eight minutes to play. Fouls and turnovers were the Gamecocks undoing as they turned it over nine times in the stretch and LSU was in the bonus at the 13:26 mark. The Lady Tigers were also doing a better job on their defensive glass, limiting South Carolina to just one shot on most possessions.

Fittingly, the Lady Tigers took their first lead of the half on a pair of free throws from Jeanne Kenney that made it a 35-33 advantage. After LSU added four more point off turnovers, Welch’s putback brought the Gamecocks within four. LSU’s Destini Hughes hit a jumper, but the Gamecocks answered with a traditional three-point play from Sutton. Ebony Wilson made it a one-point game with 6:57 to go with a huge offensive rebound, during which she was fouled and hit the resulting free throws.

LSU crashed the boards to open up a 47-40 lead with 3:41 to go, and when Sutton was called for her fifth foul on a charge, the Gamecocks’ frustration reached a tipping point. A pair of technical fouls on head coach Dawn Staley sent Barrett to the free throw line where she hit all four attempts then hit a free-throw line jumper on the resulting possession to give the Lady Tigers a commanding 53-40 lead that they would not relinquish.

Walker led South Carolina on the glass with eight rebounds. The Gamecocks yielded 27 points off their 25 turnovers and saw LSU shoot 20-of-25 from the free throw line 18-of-23 in the second half alone.

The Gamecocks are back at Colonial Life Arena for a 3 p.m. tipoff on Sun., Jan. 15, against No. 9/8 Kentucky.