LSU women fall to No. 1 South Carolina

No. 1 South Carolina defeated LSU, 75-51, in women’s basketball action Sunday in the Lady Tigers’ SEC home opener at the Maravich Assembly Center.
The Gamecocks (14-0, 2-0 SEC) were fueled by 6-foot, 5-inch freshman A’ja Wilson, who came off the bench to post her fourth consecutive double-double. She amassed 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, coupled with a 7-for-9 effort at the free-throw line. Wilson also pulled down 13 rebounds to give South Carolina its longest winning streak in school history.
“South Carolina is a very good basketball team, well coached and unbelievable players,” LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell said in a news release. “They are obviously one of the best teams in the country. We had opportunities to compete, and I thought there were spurts there that we played really good. I thought we were challenged in the paint due to their size and their toughness in that area, but this is something that this team can take and learn from, and we are going to move forward.”
LSU (7-7, 1-1 SEC) did not have any players reach double figures. DaShawn Harden tallied eight of her team-leading nine points during the second half. LSU’s backcourt also received eight points courtesy of Anne Pedersen and Raigyne Moncrief chipped in seven points for the Lady Tigers.
Making her second start of the season, Stephanie Amichia registered eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and equaled a career-high with seven rebounds. Sheila Boykin picked up six points and 11 rebounds. The 11 rebounds tied the second-highest career output for Boykin.
LSU was limited to a 34.4 percent shooting clip and misfired on six of its seven three-point attempts. The Lady Tigers struggled at the foul line with a 6-for-16 effort.
Conversely, South Carolina fired in 27-of-53 from the field which included an 8-for-21 mark from beyond the three-point arc. The Gamecocks were 13-of-18 at the charity stripe.
The Lady Tigers did force South Carolina into 23 turnovers, the most committed by the Gamecocks this season. LSU was able to get 14 points of those turnovers, the same point total the Lady Tigers surrendered to South Carolina on their 18 turnovers.
The Gamecocks had 18 assists on their 27 baskets, while LSU was only able to muster four assists on its 22 field goals.
Tiffany Mitchell, the SEC’s Preseason Player of the Year, pumped in 17 points for Carolina. She dialed up a trio of three-pointers and was 7-of-12 on field goals.
LSU opened the scoring on a Boykin bucket, but the Gamecocks began to seize the momentum with eight straight points, highlighted by a pair of Mitchell three-pointers, to take a quick 8-2 lead with 16:17 remaining.
The Lady Tigers responded with eight of the next 10 points to close the margin to 10-8 on consecutive layups from Boykin and Jenna Deemer at the 12:07 mark.
Ahead 22-16 with 5:17 to go, South Carolina started to creep away behind 15 of the final 21 points of the opening half. The Gamecocks received points from five players, headed by Wilson’s five points, to secure a 37-22 advantage at halftime.
During the opening 20 minutes, South Carolina hit 15-of-30 field goal attempts, which included 6-of-15 three-pointers. LSU could only make 9-of-27 from the floor.
The Gamecocks carried their momentum out of the locker room and ripped off a 19-3 run to make it 56-25 with 11:07 left. The 31-point deficit is the largest LSU has faced all season.
The Lady Tigers would put together 11 of the last 17 points during the final 3:43 of the contest for the final margin of 75-51. Amichia and Pedersen each provided two baskets for LSU during the stretch.
LSU will look to regroup Thursday when Vanderbilt visits the Maravich Center. Tipoff is on-tap for 8 p.m., and the game will be nationally televised by the SEC Network.
The LSU Sports Radio Network will broadcast the game on its flagship station, Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge. The broadcast featuring Patrick Wright, the voice of the Lady Tigers, also will be available for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live.
For all of the latest news and information on Lady Tiger basketball, visit www.LSUsports.net/womensbasketball. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/LSUwbkb, @lsuwbkb and @NikkiCaldwell on Twitter, @LSUwbkb and @LSUNikkiCaldwell on Instagram.