Fourth quarter surge leads to women's basketball victory

A breakout fourth quarter run by the Tigers was the deciding factor in LSU’s 57-51 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock, to secure the second win of the season.

The Tigers trailed 44-34 early in the fourth quarter.

LSU’s big fourth quarter started innocently enough with Raigyne Moncrief sinking a pair of free throws. Moncrief’s free throws would start a 19-4 run to give the Tigers the lead for the first time in the second half.

The run put LSU up 54-48 with just 1:13 left in the game. From there the Tigers were able to hit some final free throws and hold off the Trojans offense enough to secure the victory.

A key contributor on that run, and throughout the game, was guard Jenna Deemer. During the Tiger’s scoring burst, Deemer accounted for seven of the 19 points, including two of her career best six 3-pointers. Deemer led both teams in scoring with 19 points overall.

The game started out well for the Tigers, securing a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, after Deemer hit a half-court shot at the buzzer.

LSU would relinquish the lead after a pair of threes from Sharde Collins put the Trojans up 22-17, midway through the second quarter, resulting a 24-20 Trojan lead into halftime. Although the Tigers tied the game at 24 early in the third, they failed to take the lead and entered the fourth down by six.

The Tigers largest deficit of the night was ten, early in the fourth quarter, just before the run.

Although Moncrief kicked off the big LSU run in the fourth, she struggled scoring all night. She went just 3-16 from the field and her only trip to the foul line were the two free throws to start the rally. Moncrief did make her presence felt in other areas, leading the Tigers with eight rebounds and four assists.

Alexis Hyder had a well-rounded game with nine points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a blocked shot. Ann Jones came off the bench to provide four blocked shots, four points and five assists.

The LSU come back was aided by Trojan foul troubles with three of the five starters for the game fouling out.

Statistically, the Tigers didn’t have a major advantage over the Trojans, aside from bench points, which LSU outscored UALR 27-8. The Trojans had 18 points in the paint to the Tigers 14. LSU forced 17 turnovers to UALR’s 13.

Up next, the Tigers return home to face Long Beach State. Following that, the Tigers will play their next four away from Baton Rouge.