Lady Tigers grab win over Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Danielle Ballard ripped off 25 points to equal a career-high and was one of four players to secure double figures as the No. 16 LSU women’s basketball team opened SEC action with a thrilling 80-77 victory over No. 5 Tennessee Monday in-front of 14,437 fans at Thompson-Boling Arena.

LSU (11-2, 1-0 SEC) snapped a seven-game losing skid to the Lady Vols (11-2, 0-1 SEC) which dated back to the 2008-09 season. It was the Lady Tigers third win in 22 attempts in Knoxville and the program’s first road win over a Top 5 opponent since a 78-62 victory over then-No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 14, 2008. LSU also handed the Lady Vols their first defeat in a SEC opener since the 1996-97 campaign which ended a run of 16 consecutive wins.

Ballard poured in 17 of her 25 points during the first half, and the 25 points matched her career-high which she set at West Virginia last season. She also provided eight rebounds, four assists and four steals over her 34 minutes of action.

DaShawn Harden tacked on 17 points off the bench highlighted by a quartet of three-pointers. It was Harden’s highest scoring output since the opening weekend of the season.

Theresa Plaisance registered nine of her 15 points in the second half before she fouled out, while Jeanne Kenney turned in 14 points aided by a flawless 7-for-7 effort at the foul line and dished out five assists.

Tennessee was led by Isabelle Harrison’s 26 points and 10 rebounds. Meighan Simmons, the SEC Preseason Player of the Year, was shutout in the second half after she garnered 15 points during the opening 20 minutes. Ariel Massengale came away with 10 points and 12 assists for the Lady Vols.

With the score knotted at 55-55 at the 10:46 mark of the second half, LSU ripped off 20 of the next 24 points over the next 6:07. The flurry was ignited by a Harden triple on the left baseline with the shot clock expiring.

Ballard connected back-to-back driving layups, and Harden drilled another three-ball from the top of the key to give LSU a 65-56 edge with 6:59 remaining. The spurt was capped by four Kenney free throws off Tennessee technical fouls, and a Raigyne Moncrief foul shot to make it 75-59 with 4:37 to go.

The Lady Vols charged back behind 11 points from Harrison. She split two free throws with 16 seconds left to pull Tennessee back to 78-77 which finished off an 18-3 Lady Vols run. Four seconds later, Moncrief calmly knocked down the front end of a 1-and-1 and her second free throw pushed LSU’s advantage back to 80-77. The Lady Vols had one final chance to tie, but Andraya Carter’s three-pointer from the top of the key rimmed in-and-out to seal the LSU victory.

LSU plays its final non-conference game Sunday at Tulane. Tip time is slated for 2 p.m. from Devlin Fieldhouse.