by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com
View Box Score
The Marist Red Foxes gave SEC regular season champ LSU all they could handle for more than a half in their second round game, but ultimately it was LSU’s bookend players of Sylvia Fowles and Erica White who closed the book on Marist‘s run in the 2008 NCAA tournament, as LSU beat the Red Foxes 68-49. Fowles, LSU’s tallest player at 6-6, and White, their shortest at 5-3, were the leading scorers for the Lady Tigers, tallying 19 and 15 respectively. Fowles also pulled down 13 rebounds for her 83rd career double-double. Fowles’ 13 boards moved her into the top spot as the SEC’s all-time leading rebounder with 1,527. The previous record of 1,525 had stood for 25 years, having been set by Kentucky’s Valerie Still in 1983.
The Red Foxes, out to prove last year’s run to the Sweet Sixteen was no fluke, entered tonight’s matchup with a 32-2 record and the nation’s longest win streak. Facing an oversized opponent on their home court, many expected Marist to get blown out of the water, and even though they trailed 25-15 in the first half, the Red Foxes went on a 12-4 run to close the half, and they entered the locker room trailing by only two, 29-27. Point guard Julianne Vianni almost single-handedly kept them in the game, scoring 13 of Marist’s first half points. She finished with a game-high 21 points and connected on 5 three-pointers.
But give LSU’s head coach Van Chancellor credit; he and his staff made some halftime adjustments and the Lady Tigers came out prepared to take care of business. They entered the second half more focused, and even though Marist stayed within striking distance well into the final 20 minutes, LSU used a 9-0 run midway through the second period to put the game out of reach. LSU scored 28 points off of 19 Marist turnovers, while taking good care of the ball themselves, committing only 9 turnovers for the game. LSU outrebounded Marist 32-27, and racked up 17 assists compared to Marist’s 11.
LSU’s eight seniors played their final game in Maravich Assembly Center where they compiled a 53-4 record in four years. LSU now advances to their 12th Sweet Sixteen in program history, and their sixth straight. Marist ends their season at 32-3.
LSU’s next game will be Saturday, Mar. 29 in New Orleans against #3 seed Oklahoma State, who escaped with an overtime win against 11th seed Florida State. The game can be seen on ESPN2.
Posted under LSU & LeAnne Harrington & NCAA Tournament | No Comments »