Second all-time meeting between these two teams. The Bears won the first meeting 85-75 in the 2000 Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Classic. Southwest Missouri State is 4-3 after opening the season with losses against undefeated Richmond and Tulsa. They cruised to victories in thier next four games only to be beaten by Oklahoma in their last outing. THe Bears are led by Jennifer Lingor's 23.6 points and Sarah Klassen's 60.7% shooting from downtown. In fact, the Bear's are a perimeter team with 3 players shooting over 40% from beyond the arc. How they handle Fowles, Jones and Willis inside will be a good question? Also who stops Augustus will be a key question. LSU has to be ready for a very disciplined team that likes to reverse the ball quickly. Their shooting will spread the Tiger defense which is where it's nice having a 6'6" shot blocker in the middle. Should be a good game with a good crowd on hand.
LSU leads 26-17 at the half. Seimone has 8, Schlonda 6, Quianna 5. Temeka went out about half way through the first half with 2 fouls and LSU preceded to turn the ball over left and right. There is no capable back up fro Temeka (I'm not certain what kind of pressure SMS was employing) although Johnson's backup (Mitchell) wasn't the only one turning the ball over. The team just clicks when Johnson is running it. We'll see what the second half brings.
Wow... SMS took the lead with 6 minutes to go... Then the freshmen of LSU took over.. LSU up by 10 points now!
Serious Frosh Power!! LSU starts impressive and ends impressive after letting SMS get a late lead. It was the frosh class that led the charge, especially Ashley Thomas, who got a key offensive board off a Fowles FT miss to get the basket and the AND ONE and blocked two shots. Fowles asserted herself late capturing offensive boards and making the FT and the bonus. LSU wins 66-54 led by Seimone's 19 on 9-12 shooting. 3 others in double figures and Fowles collects another double-double.
SMS played a great game and I think Koch owned Temeka today and that doesn't happen often. Seimone was her All-American self but I think Hoston and the frosh showed the hustle at the end. We outshot SMS from beyond the arc, overcame whistle happy refs (on both teams), and all the TOs.
