BATON ROUGE -- No. 23 Kentucky overcame a three-point deficit with a 17-5 run in the final seven minutes and the Wildcats escaped with their first win in Baton Rouge since 1995 by a score of 71-62 over the 18th-ranked LSU women's basketball team on Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers (14-5) fell to 3-4 in Southeastern Conference play and lost for the fourth time in five games. Kentucky (17-3, 5-2) snapped a 16-game losing streak to LSU and defeated the Lady Tigers for the first time overall since the 1999 SEC Tournament.
"We go into halftime all pumped up because we had just come back from being behind to tie it up," LSU head coach Van Chancellor said. "We were so positive. We're struggling as a team to carry over to the floor-from the practice floor to the game floor. We were up three points tonight and couldn't get the job done."
UK's Victoria Dunlap led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds. Crystal Riley, an LSU transfer, chipped in 11 points while Amber Smith added 10 points. Smith drained five free throws in the final two minutes that iced the game.
LSU's Allison Hightower registered her fifth 20-point game of the season with 23 points on 10-of-30 shooting. Hightower's 30 field goal attempts tied for the second-most in a single game in school history. Cornelia Gayden fired 30 shots against TCU on Jan. 2, 1995. Julie Gross holds the LSU single game record with 34 attempts on Nov. 18, 1978.
Sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett reached double-figures for the seventh straight game with 14 points before fouling out, and junior forward Jasmine Nelson scored a career-high 10 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
Both teams shot under 45 percent for the game, and LSU dominated points in the paint, 30-16. Kentucky led by as many as 11 points in the first half before the Lady Tigers rallied to tie the game at 36 apiece into halftime. Hightower's jumper from the top of the key with three seconds left capped a 13-2 run in the final four minutes.
LSU took a five-point lead in the first six minutes out of the locker room, but the Wildcats regained the lead on five straight points from Riley to make it 47-46. The teams traded baskets on three straight trips down the floor.
Dunlap made a layup to give UK a 60-57 advantage with 6:06 remaining. A costly fifth foul by Barrett at the 5:45 point sent her to the bench for the remainder of the contest. A'dia Mathies' 3-pointer was answered by Adrienne Webb as the Wildcats still led 65-60 with 3:27 left.
LSU was unable to cut the deficit any closer. Smith drained four free throws in the final minute to preserve Kentucky's first victory in Baton Rouge since 1995.
The Lady Tigers begin a two-game road trip at Alabama at 2 p.m. CST Sunday. The game will not be televised but can be heard on the LSU Sports Radio Network on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge or in the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net.
LSU HEAD COACH VAN CHANCELLOR QUOTES
Opening statement...
"We go into halftime all pumped up because we had just come back from being behind to tie it up. We were so positive. I don't want these same up and down plays. We're struggling as a team to carry over to the floor-from the practice floor to the game floor. Those are the kinds of frustrations I'm having right now. We were up three points tonight and couldn't get the job done."
On defending Kentucky...
"Kentucky went on the zone, and that ended up being a major problem for us. They couldn't guard us man-to-man. All we had to do was throw the ball to the high post, and we did everything but throw the ball to the high post."
On end of first half run...
"We just started executing and getting the ball where we wanted it. I thought a key play for us would have been to foul out Amber Smith. We just couldn't make that happen."
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On what Kentucky did on defense that allowed them to take the lead ...
"They went to a two-three zone defense, and from there we just didn't execute our zone offense. We put them on the line and they knocked down free-throws and it just went from there."
On how physical Kentucky was on defense ...
"The pressure was just in the passing lanes. Every time we dribbled they were all on us. I just feel that we didn't execute like we were supposed to. We turned the ball over and it just lead to layups and easy points for them. It is just all about executing which we haven't done."
On the mood in the locker room after coming back at halftime ...
"We just wanted to make sure that we caught momentum. We did a good job of coming back and finishing that half. In the locker room we just wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page, and that we could come out here and that in the next 20 minutes we would come out and give it all we got. We just needed to execute and finish. That is a really big thing we have been struggling with is finishing out games. We had them up a few points and then all of the sudden they came back, we fouled, we broke down on defense and they went up."
On Kentucky's defense ...
"They went to the zone defense and we couldn't knock down the shots. We couldn't make layups and instead we fouled them and put them on the free-throw line."
On how physical Kentucky was on defense ...
"They played real good defense. They forced turnovers and we didn't execute our offense as well as we should have and it just lead to easy buckets for them. We could have done a lot of things better."
KENTUCKY HEAD COACH MATTHEW MITCHELL
Opening Statement ...
"Our team earned this win tonight. It was a very difficult night. LSU has a very good basketball team. We're excited to have been able to come down here and get a good win through a lot of hard work and a lot of hustle."
On what was said at halftime after LSU tied the score ...
"We talked about the first 16 minutes that we had done a great job. We told the players that's how good LSU is; in four minutes, 16 minutes of hard work could go away. We wanted to try to focus the best we could on four-minute segments in the second half. Our whole thing the entire time was to try to out-work the Tigers tonight. We tried to play with a lot of heart and a lot of energy."
On how big of a win this was for Kentucky ...
"It's a big win for our team. We had not had much success on the road in the league. If you have any aspirations of going to the NCAA tournament, you need to win games on the road. To come in and beat a quality team that we have a lot of respect for is great for our program and great for our place in the standings."
On what led to their successful run in the second half ...
"I thought we did it on the defensive end, and the big key was finishing plays. We were able to get some rebounds that were very tough; LSU is a powerful rebounding team. We were able to get a few loose balls. Our team has to outhustle people; we have to work harder than people. I thought our players never stopped believing. I told them to not let the fact that LSU was making a run bother us and keep believing. I credit the players. They got out there and made plays tonight, and made shots and defensive plays. It was a great effort for our team."
On ending the drought against LSU ...
"It's nice, but that's low on the list of priorities. We needed this win for this particular team. This particular team hadn't lost 15 or 16 in a row. This particular team had never lost to LSU. We need to get a one-game winning streak just for this season. Our players have done an unbelievable job of working hard and getting themselves in top physical condition and fundamentally sound and it's paying off for them now. We had some big wins this season, and this is a big one. The way life is in the SEC we'll have to put this one behind us pretty quickly and stay humble and hungry and get back to work and try to win another one on Sunday."
