Sheila Alldredge
January 22, 2008
Lillie Reed
January 24, 2008Ninth-ranked LSU held Mississippi State to 15.3-percent shooting en route to earning its largest margin of victory over a Southeastern Conference opponent in school history, winning 84-31 on Sunday at the Maravich Center.
The Lady Tigers (14-3, 3-0 SEC) shot 65 percent from the field in the first half to lead by 33 at the break. They held Mississippi State (12-6, 0-3 SEC) to 9-of-59 from the field.
The 53-point win surpassed the previous school record, a 44-point win over Kentucky on Jan. 16, 2003.
Mississippi State’s 31 points were the second-lowest by a league opponent in school history (the record is 27 versus Alabama on Feb. 25, 2007).
Every Lady Tiger player saw at least eight minutes of action, and all but one scored.
Coach Van Chancellor improved his career record to 38-1 against his alma mater Mississippi State.
LSU is also now 19-0 against the Lady Bulldogs at the Maravich Center.
Quianna Chaney led all scorers with 16 points, while Mesha Williams had 12 and Sylvia Fowles had 11 in 17 minutes of play.
Khalilia Mitchell came off the bench to score 10 points and dish out eight assists.
LSU finished 27-of-52 shooting (51.9 percent), and added 27-of-36 free throws (75 percent).
The Lady Tigers outrebounded the Bulldogs by 14, scored 23 points off 18 turnovers and had as many bench points as from the starting five.
LSU will now head to the road for a couple of SEC contests (Thursday at Auburn, 6 p.m. and Sunday at Kentucky, 1:30 p.m.).
Men’s hoops struggles
LSU dropped its seventh consecutive game on Saturday with a 92-76 loss to No. 16 Vanderbilt.
The Tigers (7-11 overall and 0-4 in the SEC) also fell to Auburn at home on Wednesday, 74-67.
Against Vanderbilt, Marcus Thornton led the Tigers with 27 points and Anthony Randolph added 14 points and 19 rebounds. Against Auburn, Thornton also had 27 points.
Garrett Temple added 17 and Randolph chimed in with 12 points.
The Tigers will play two road games this week.
On Wednesday, LSU plays at Auburn at 7 p.m., and on Saturday, at Alabama.
The game, which starts at 2 p.m., will be televised by Lincoln Financial Sports.
National Title celebration
On January 7, LSU celebrated in New Orleans by winning its second BCS National Championship at the Louisiana Superdome with a victory over Ohio State.
On Saturday, the celebration came home as the Tigers, along with an estimated 25,000 fans, cheered and relived LSU’s march to the 2007 national title in Tiger Stadium.
Under overcast skies and temperatures hovering in the 30s, LSU was officially presented four 2007 National Championship trophies.
Among the trophies handed out to the undisputed national champion Tigers were the MacArthur Bowl National Championship, the Football Writers Trophy, the Associated Press Trophy and the BCS National Championship Trophy.
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive presented the BCS trophy, as well as the SEC Championship trophy, to Les Miles and the Tigers.
Also on hand at the event were Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish Kip Holden.
All but three members (Jacob Hester, Chevis Jackson and Andrew Decker) of the LSU football team attended the event. Among those in attendance included quarterback Matt Flynn and cornerback Jonathan Zenon, who both turned down opportunities to play in the East-West Shrine All-Star Game to be at the celebration.
Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, the most decorated defender in school history, was also recognized for winning four national awards during the 2007 season.
Dorsey, who was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2007, won the Nagurski, Lombardi, Outland and Lott Awards as a senior.
The event concluded with the raising of the 2007 National Championship Flag, which will fly above Tiger Stadium for every LSU football game in the future, as well as the singing of the LSU Alma Mater.
