LSU Sports Information

BATON ROUGE — The Lady Tiger women’s basketball team had the chance for their first win over a ranked opponent this season, but the victory slipped out of reach with No. 20 Florida outscoring LSU, 20-7, in the fourth quarter as LSU dropped a 53-45 decision to the Gators here at the O’Connell Center Sunday afternoon.

The Lady Tigers (7-11; 1-4 SEC) struggled to generate buckets in the fourth quarter, missing eight of their nine final field goal attempts of the quarter. They also missed three of their six attempts from the charity stripe in the quarter. Florida used a 9-0 run but only led by three with one minute left in the game. With LSU forced to foul, the Gators hit five free throws for the eventual eight-point win.

“I thought our team really tried to execute the game plan, and did so for three and a half quarters,” said LSU head coach Nikki Fargas. “They showed a lot of heart and showed a lot of togetherness out there. We have been talking about maintaining that mental energy and controlling the controllables and staying positive with each other out there, and I thought we did that for the most part.”

“I give a lot of credit to Florida,” added Fargas. “They have a really good basketball team. They have seasoned players. They played when they needed to, to gain the momentum and obviously put themselves in position to win.”

Junior transfer Alexis Hyder recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a team-leading 13 points and 10 rebounds. It is the 10th time this season she has led the Lady Tigers in rebounding and the sixth time in scoring. Hyder was 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from the charity stripe, while also dishing out three assists and grabbing two steals. Jasmine Rhodes also scored in double figures with 10 points off a 5-of-12 shooting effort from the field. She grabbed four rebounds and registered an assist and steal. Anne Pedersen chipped in eight points and Shanice Norton added seven for the Lady Tigers.

LSU managed to secure the rebounding advantage, 33-32, and forced the Gators to turn the ball over 24 times. The Lady Tigers scored 20 points off UF’s miscues. LSU shot 36 percent (20-56) from the field, including a 0-of-6 mark from three-point range. The Lady Tigers were again without outside shooting threat Jenna Deemer, who remained in Baton Rouge with an illness. LSU converted just five of their 10 free-throw attempts.

Florida shot 50 percent (19-39) from the field and was 11-of-26 from the free-throw line. They also knocked down four treys as they improved to 15-3 overall; 3-2 in the SEC. Eleanna Christinaki led the Gators with 15 points. Ronni Williams also scored in double digits with 11 points. She also posted a team-leading nine rebounds.

The Lady Tigers scored the first bucket of the game on the possession following the jump ball. Rhodes snagged the ball off the jump and raced for the layup. LSU used a 6-0 run midway through the quarter to get the 10-5 advantage but the Gators countered with a 5-0 run to knot the score at 10-10 with 1:25 left in the quarter. Pedersen hit her second basket to give LSU the 12-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Ann Jones opened the second quarter with a bucket to push LSU ahead, 14-10, but then the Lady Tigers suffered a scoring drought just over three minutes long that allowed the Gators to take the lead, 19-14, before Rhodes knocked down two quick jumpers to put LSU within one, 19-18. Shanice Norton hit a jumper to tie the score at 20. That tie was first of three in the second quarter as LSU continued to battle and the teams took to the locker room at the break with the score tied, 25-25.

In the first half, LSU shot 43 percent (12-28) from the field while the Gators converted 50 percent (9-18) of their shots. Florida outrebounded LSU, 17-14, in the half. The Lady Tigers forced Florida to turn the ball over 12 times in the first half, and converted those miscues into 11 points.

The Lady Tigers scored first in the third quarter to take their first lead since early in the second period. Rina Hill threw up a three-point attempt at the shot clock buzzer. Jones grabbed the offensive board and converted the layup for the 27-25 LSU lead. The Lady Tigers pushed their lead to four, 31-27, while UF experienced a four-minute scoring drought before Eleanna Christinaki sunk a trey to get the game within one point, 31-30. The Lady Tigers continued to fight and led, 38-33, at the end of the third quarter, but the Gators held LSU to just seven points in the fourth quarter for the win.

The Lady Tigers return to the PMAC for their final home game in January, hosting Arkansas on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. LSU closes out the month at Georgia (Jan. 24) and Missouri (Jan. 28).