by Bill Martin, Associate Sports Information Director
BATON ROUGE -- Sophomore forward Taylor Turnbow delivered a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the seventh-ranked LSU Lady Tigers held high-scoring and 24th-ranked Middle Tennessee to its lowest point total this decade in a 61-40 win over the Blue Raiders on Wednesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (2-0), which has led the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense the past five seasons, has surrendered a combined 59 points in two games this season. Middle Tennessee’s 40 points were the fewest since Jan. 5, 1998 in a 57-32 loss to Tennessee-Martin.
The Lady Tigers’ stifling defense led to 31 points off of 28 turnovers while holding the Blue Raiders to just 32.1 percent (18-of-56) from the floor. LSU has forced a total of 61 turnovers in two games.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that that was one of the greatest defensive efforts I have ever seen,” LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. “(Associate head coach) Bob Starkey did a wonderful job devising a great defensive plan and then the execution of our players. I thought Taylor Turnbow on Alysha Clark was outstanding tonight. This was a coming out party for her. I thought she was truly outstanding for us.”
Turnbow erupted for her first career double-double and registered career highs in points and rebounds, but her effort against the nation’s leading returning scorer stole the show.
Sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett reached double-figures for the second straight game with 10 points and four boards. Junior guard Katherine Graham dished out five assists to go along with nine points and seven rebounds.
Senior guard Allison Hightower chipped in seven points in 33 minutes of action. Hightower suffered through leg cramps toward the end of the first half and into the second half. She missed the final 3:02 of the game due to cramping.
Clark was held to five points in the first half but she finished with 16 points and a game-high 20 rebounds. The first-team All-American was held below the 30-point mark as she shot 7-of-19 from the floor.
“What happened to us last year, with a young team, we didn’t take away anything (against them),” Chancellor said. “So tonight we decided we would give Clark some looks that were different. We were calling different numbers out and letting different people double her and then most of the night not doubling her. We were going to give her points and make sure that they didn’t have seven threes at the end of the game. That was our whole plan.”
LSU took total control of the game midway through the first half. The Lady Tigers outscored Middle Tennessee 22-5 in the final 11:48 of the period. LSU used a 12-0 run during a span of four minutes to jump out to big advantage after the score was 13-10 with 12:02 on the clock.
Hightower started the barrage when she misfired on a 3-point attempt but was fouled allowing her to go to the line for three shots. After draining all three, junior guard Taylor Booze fired in her second career trey with 10:20 remaining to put LSU in front by nine.
Turnbow later gathered one of her six offensive boards and registered a putback to extend the lead to double-digits. Her free throws at the 8:10 mark gave the Lady Tigers a 23-10 lead. Graham contributed a steal and an easy layup on a fast break and two more Turnbow free throws made it 35-12 LSU with less than a minute to play in the half.
MTSU’s Jackie Pickel connected for a 3-pointer as time expired, but LSU took a commanding 35-15 lead into the locker room. The Lady Tigers then scored the first five points of the second half for their largest lead of the game, 40-15, following a 3-pointer from point guard Latear Eason and another layup from Turnbow.
The Blue Raiders attempted to cut into the deficit with an 8-0 run as Clark finally found her rhythm with back-to-back jumpers. However, LSU’s defense would not allow the lead to get under double digits.
MTSU trailed 50-34 with 7:11 to go but Turnbow got to the line for a pair of free throws and Barrett added a shot from the right baseline. The Lady Tigers finished the game at 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the floor.
LSU returns to action on Saturday against Houston in the Maravich Center. Tipoff is scheduled for noon CST. The Lady Tigers play host to Nicholls State the following day on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. CST.
LSU vs. Middle Tennessee State
November 18, 2009
Head Coach Van Chancellor
Opening statement ...
“I don’t think there is any doubt that that was one of the greatest defensive efforts I have ever seen. Bob Starkey did a wonderful job devising a great defensive plan and then the execution of our players. I thought Taylor Turnbow on Alysha Clark was outstanding tonight. This was a coming out party for her. I thought she was truly outstanding for us. I thought that the next Taylor that played really well was Taylor Booze. For our team to hold them to 40 points was just unbelievable. The other two times we have played them were high scoring games.”
On Taylor Turnbow’s performance both offensively and defensively ...
“She just woke up today and played. She was outstanding defensively. I think that kind of fed off what she was doing offensively. This is a big win for us. I don’t care what the name is on that jersey, this is a big magnificent win for this team. They were as happy as I have seen them. I was as happy as I have seen.”
On Taylor Turnbow’s defensive effort against Middle Tennessee’s Alysha Clark
“What happened to us last year, with a young team, we didn’t take away anything. So tonight we decided we would give Clark some looks that were different. We were calling different numbers out and letting different people double her and then most of the night not doubling her. We were going to give her her points and make sure that they didn’t have seven threes at the end of the game that was our whole plan. We just didn’t think she could outscore her whole team but we didn’t realize Turnbow would do a great job.”
On if there was anything the team still needs to work on ...
“We have to clean up our turnovers against the press and too many offensive rebounds, but I m not worried about that. This is as happy as I have been with our team. This is such great strides from this game and this time last year.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On what this game means about the improvement from last year’s team...
“Last year I think we lost that game in the second half when we deviated from the game plan. This year we just wanted to come out and stay focused on what we had been practicing over the past couple of weeks, and make sure we were locked in and focused on what the coaches said for us to do. We knew if we came out and played exactly how we’ve been practicing that we would come away with a win.”
On if she was confident that Taylor Turnbow could shut down Alysha Clark...
“Yeah, I was. Taylor is a great post defender with long arms. I knew going against (Alysha) Clark, it would be a challenge (for Clark). When you go against someone like Taylor, she’s relentless on defense. She doesn’t like for anyone to score. I knew she would take the job and excel at it. I think it was a team effort, but I knew that Taylor would be ready.”
On guarding Middle Tennessee F Alysha Clark...
“You could say it was one-on-one but the guards on the wings had deflections. There were a lot of touches she (Alysha Clark) didn’t get because of my teammates, and I was thankful for that. It was really team defense tonight.”
On preparing for the matchup...
“I think this was a mental game, being that they beat us the last two games we played them. I just followed the coaches’ game plan and came into it levelheaded. I didn’t get too excited or too down about things.”
On her team-leading 12 rebounds tonight...
“It’s my job to rebound. I’m a post player, and I just did my job.”
MIDDLE TENNESSEE HEAD COACH RICK INSELL
Opening Statement ...
“LSU played a great game. You have to give them credit. They came out and played a great game on the boards early. They made some shots. I thought our defensive game plan was sound. In the second half, we came out and played with a little more effort. I’m really proud of Jackie Pickel; she held Allison Hightower to seven points. Alysha (Clark) and Brandi (Brown) kept battling inside. I can’t ask for anything more from my kids; they battled. Give credit to Van (Chancellor) and his kids. They played hard and went to the boards hard. That’s their forte to play well under the boards. They gave us problems tonight, but we knew that coming in. I’m proud of the way our team battled.”
On what LSU did well in the game ...
“They came out with a little emotion and they hit their shots. They played sound defense up the line and shut down our shooters on the outside. They did some things to us that no one has ever done. Athletically they got after us and did some things to us that no one has been able to do to us before. Granted, if we took care of business a little better on the inside we could’ve opened up our shooters a little bit.”
On the physical nature of the game ...
“It was aggressive out there. There was no dirty playing, though. They played hard and we played hard.”
On this year’s LSU team compared to last year’s ...
“I think they got better. They took all those freshmen and played all year in the SEC and got better. They are very athletic. The kids are long and fundamentally sound. They’ve done a good job with them. I think they are one of the top 10 teams in the country. I don’t think they’re overrated. I think they’re only going to get better.”
