BATON ROUGE -- It featured 55 minutes on the scoreboard, 203 points, heroic shots, a triple-double, 14 ties and 21 lead changes, but Ole Miss survived against LSU in one of the greatest games in Pete Maravich Assembly Center history.
LSU's Katherine Graham became the second player in school history with a triple-double, but Ole Miss' Kayla Holloway converted a layup with 11 seconds remaining as the Rebels outlasted the 19th-ranked Lady Tigers, 102-101, in a triple-overtime thriller on Super Bowl Sunday.
The Lady Tigers (15-7, 4-6 SEC) dropped its second straight game and lost for the sixth time in the past eight contests. LSU was playing in its school-record fourth overtime game of the season, and it was the first time in school history the Lady Tigers had played in back-to-back overtime contests.
Ole Miss (15-8, 6-4) snapped a three-game losing streak and an eight-game losing skid in Baton Rouge. The Rebels recorded their first win in Baton Rouge since 1994. The team's combined to play the second-highest scoring game in Maravich Center history, second to only a 108-102 double-overtime win by Georgia over LSU on Feb. 10, 1991.
"I thought we played with an incredible effort today," LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. "I thought we fought as hard as we could fight. I felt we lost the game early, not late. Late in the game, we did all we could. They made some incredible shots in the end. The difference in the game was we couldn't rebound the ball over a team that I thought we could really keep off the offensive boards."
Graham finished with 20 points, a career-high 10 assists and 10 rebounds and provided LSU with its first triple-double since Cornelia Gayden had 32 points, 15 boards and 10 steals against Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 7, 1995. It was the first triple-double by an LSU player in a Southeastern Conference game and just the third in school history.
"It doesn't mean much because we lost," Graham said. "Hopefully next time I get a triple-double we can win."
With five seconds to go in the third overtime, Graham was fouled and went to the line for two free throws with LSU trailing, 102-100. After making the first, she missed the second but gathered the rebound and missed a potential game-winning shot from the right elbow as time expired.
The Lady Tigers had held a 100-97 lead following a Destini Hughes 3-pointer with 1:07 on the clock, but Elizabeth Robertson answered with a three of her own from the left wing to tie the game at the century mark with 45 seconds to go. Bianca Lutley turned it over on LSU's ensuing possession, and Holloway drove the baseline for the game-winning layup with 11 seconds left.
LSU played the final eight minutes, including the final overtime period, without its top player in SEC Preseason Player of the Year Allison Hightower. Hightower left in the second overtime with 3:30 remaining due to leg cramping, but the senior still managed to score a game-high 31 points as she finished one point shy of a career-high in 47 minutes. She finished 9-of-15 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line.
Sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett added 23 points and 11 boards for her fifth double-double of the season. She finished 13-of-14 from the free throw line and saw a streak of 23 consecutive free throws come to an end in the first overtime.
Barrett's 13 made free throws tied for the third-most in single-game school history. As a team, LSU shot 31-of-36 from the charity stripe for 86.1 percent. The 31 made free throws tied a school record and were the most since draining 31 versus Mississippi State on Jan. 3, 1998.
Barrett made two free throws with 26 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 74-74. Robertson missed a jumper in the waning seconds for Ole Miss.
Hughes' heroic jumper in the lane with 0.4 seconds left sent the game into double-overtime and tied the contest at 82 all. LSU rallied from a 3-point deficit in the extra period when Graham buried a desperation 3-pointer from the right wing to tie it at 90 apiece with seven seconds on the clock.
Officials then went to the monitors to review the shot to see if Graham's foot was on the line. After a few minutes of conferring and the crowd chanting "three", the call withstood. LSU's Latear Eason picked up a steal on a driving Kayla Melson as the teams went to the third overtime.
Robertson buried 7-of-13 from 3-point range en route to 25 points. Ole Miss' Bianca Thomas, who scored 42 in the first meeting, poured in a team-high 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting. The Rebels finished 13-of-32 from 3-point land.
Ole Miss' biggest lead was 14 late in the first half, and LSU trailed 37-30 at halftime before rallying to tie the score.
LSU plays its next two games on the road, beginning at Florida at 6 p.m. CST Thursday from the O'Connell Center. There will be no television broadcast but the game will be carried on the LSU Sports Radio Network and in the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net.
LSU HEAD COACH VAN CHANCELLOR
Opening statement...
"I thought we played with an incredible effort today. I thought we fought as hard as we could fight. I felt we lost the game early, not late. Late in the game, we did all we could. They made some incredible shots in the end. The difference in the game was we couldn't rebound the ball over a team that I thought we could really keep off the offensive boards. I didn't think in the second half they hurt us that much with their leading scorer. We were up twice with a three-point lead, and we gave up a three-ball. We've talked to them and talked to them. We want to make them put the ball on the floor. That's just the way it goes."
On the second half...
"We made some great plays to give ourselves a chance. We were up by three twice, and we just had to get a defensive rebound."
On Destini Hughes' play in overtime...
"Thank goodness (Destini) Hughes and (Bianca) Lutley played, but we didn't lose the game there (overtime). We've got to rebound the ball. You can't give up 17 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points."
On LSU's play offensively...
"We were able to do some great things offensively, and don't misunderstand me. I'm really pleased we fought back. I thought the play that turned us around was the ball that was going out of bounds right in front of my bench, and two of my players just sat there and watched it. They threw it back in and hit a three-ball. That turns out to be the game-winner in the first half."
On Allison Hightower's condition...
"She played 47 minutes. She has to guard. She's just out of everything. She's back there getting looked at right now."
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Guard Katherine Graham
On playing a three-overtime game...
"We know that it could have been won in regulation. We fell behind 15 points. There were a lot of things that could have turned the game either way without it going into overtime."
On getting LSU's first triple-double since 1995...
"It doesn't mean much because we lost. Hopefully next time I get a triple-double we can win."
Forward LaSondra Barrett
On how the game was won...
"Ole Miss made bigger plays than we did, and that's how the game came down to it."
On getting contributions from Destini Hughes and Bianca Lutley...
"It just shows the potential in our team and our bench. Coach always says we need our bench to step up. It helps when you have other people taking the load off. I know for myself, I couldn't buy a basket but for Destini to be hitting key shots and Bianca, hopefully it just raises their confidence so we can use them a lot in the upcoming games."
OLE MISS QUOTES
Head Coach Renee Ladner
Opening Statement ...
"You know any time you go on the road, and you can find a way to dig one out and win in triple overtime, it is big. You would prefer to play one game at a time, but it was a game that wouldn't end, and it was a hard fought game against two teams and on this particular day we came up with the win. It is heart-breaking for either team. If anyone had to lose that game is was going to be extremely hard. It was a slugfest to say the least."
On getting other people involved besides Bianca Thomas ...
"We knew that was going to happen. She scored 42 the last time they played, so we knew we would need point production from other people. We tweaked our offense a little to try and get other people some open looks. Our kids stepped up and came through. There are just so many moments that we stepped up within the overtime period and I am extremely proud of these kids because this is what they work for every day."
On LSU's ability to hit the outside shot ...
"We bring out the best in everyone. For the most part if we don't guard somebody they usually hit a shot. We had some breakdowns in our defense. We would get sunk in too deep and then we couldn't recover out. That is partially because of our game plan originally to allow them to shoot the outside shot. Katherine Graham hit them time after time and then Destini Hughes hit some big shots. We would focus on LaSondra Barrett and Allison Hightower and then once again LSU would make a big play, so we would have to turn around and make a big play."
F Elizabeth Robertson
On the game winning three-point shot ...
" think Kayla Holloway did a great job getting on the boards. She got that rebound and passed it out to me, and then I was wide open and hit it. It was those kinds of plays throughout the game that really made a difference. Just everyone playing, doing their job, being unselfish and making big plays and stepping up when we needed them."
