Nov. 11, 2007
Final Stats |
AP Photo Gallery 
BATON ROUGE, La--The TCU women's basketball team registered another solid early-season defensive effort Saturday, but No. 5/5 LSU pulled away in the second half to hand the Lady Frogs a 73-54 road loss in the second round of the Preseason WNIT at the Tigers' Maravich Center.
The Purple and White dropped to the tournament's consolation bracket with the loss and will now wait to learn of their final WNIT opponent. The next game is likely to occur Friday, Nov. 16, but the Frogs must wait to learn the details of their matchup until other games are completed. It is not known whether the game will be held at TCU's Daniel-Meyer Coliseum or on the road.
TCU held the Lady Tigers to only 37 percent shooting from the field in the first half Saturday to keep the game within reach by intermission, but LSU's defense was equally as tough. The Frogs scored only 26 points in the second half and went without a field goal in the final 5:02 as the Tigers pulled away.
Senior Adrianne Ross scored a team-14 points while showing no ill effects of the leg cramps that hampered her during TCU's season-opening win over Radford Friday. She was the lone Lady Frog that reached double-figures in scoring, although freshman Helena Sverrisdottir chipped in nine points and shared the team lead with six boards.
Senior Lorie Butler-Rayford tied Sverrisdottir with six rebounds and added eight points, while junior Micaela Younger's eight points tied her career high set last season against Pepperdine.
Senior All-American Sylvia Fowles, who sat much of the first half while in foul trouble, led three Lady Tigers in double figures with 16 points. LSU went to the 6-foot-6 Fowles early and often in the second half, as she scored 11 points in the stanza on her way to a 6-for-6 shooting night from the field. Seniors Quianna Chaney and Allison Hightower scored 14 and 12 points, respectively. Hightower drilled 4-of-5 3-point attempts for LSU.
The Lady Frogs showed up ready to play against an LSU squad that had reached each of the last four NCAA Final Fours, running out to an early 13-4 lead just over four minutes into the game. Butler-Rayford and Sverrisdottir each accounted for four points during the stretch, as TCU controlled the paint in the early going. In fact, TCU grabbed 10 of the game's first 12 rebounds against a Tiger squad that out-rebounded its opponents by a margin of 5.5 per game during its NCAA Final Four run a year ago.
Following its early success, the Lady Frogs suffered through a prolonged drought featuring only three points over the next 11:16. LSU was able to push out to a 14-point lead before TCU mounted a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 35-28 entering intermission. Included in the scoring was a tip-in to end the half at the buzzer by senior Jenna Lohse.
TCU hung around much of the second half, but the Tigers eventually pulled away down the stretch. Chaney hit a pair of second-half treys, as LSU shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the second period. The Frogs were also out-rebounded in the half by a 19-13 margin.
