Lady Tigers Fall to Florida Gulf Coast, 88-74

Photo By: LSUsports.net

Da Boot Sports
11/14/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil


BATON ROUGE, LA: LSU lost their first game of the season, 88-74 to a very good Florida Gulf Coast team in the PMAC on Sunday afternoon. FGC is known for having a very successful women's basketball program and they showed it as they played fast and furious, with solid play and red hot shooting throughout the contest. The Lady Tigers just couldn't keep pace with the Eagles' three point shooting assault.


Florida Gulf Coast controlled the opening tip and wasted no time as Keirstan Bell hit a three point jumper just five seconds into the contest. The Lady Tigers quickly answered as Khayla Pointer would bank in a layup and draw a foul, sending her to the line. Pointer completed the three point play to tie the ball game up 3-3 with 9:30 on the clock. The game would stay at a furious pace as both teams played fast and physical, but it would be FGC who would pick it up a notch to go on a 13-6 run over the next three minutes, taking a 16-9 lead. The Lady Tigers responded by going on a run of their own over the final six minutes of the 1st period, outscoring the Eagles 14-8. FGC would hold a 24-23 lead at the end of the period.
Alexis Morris would put the Lady Tigers on the board first in the 2nd quarter, hitting a quick jumper 30 seconds into the period. Pointer followed Morris' shot with one of her own, hitting a jumper to give LSU a 27-24 lead with 9:03 left in the half. The Eagles continued to play at a relentless pace, going on a 9-6 run over the next four minutes to find us all knotted up at 33-33. FGC would continue to put on a clinic with great ball movement and blowing by LSU players to score as they would end the first half going on a 13-10 run to take a 46-43 lead into the locker room at the half.
FGC shot 18-33 from the floor for 55% while LSU went 18-41 for 44%. The Eagles were blazing hot from behind the three point arc as they hit 8-14 in the 1st half for 57%. LSU could only manage one three pointer in the first 20 minutes going 1-3 for 33%. .... LSU was able to dominate the boards outrebounding the Eagles 24-17.
Kayla Pointer scored 16 points in the first half to lead the Lady Tigers, ... Alexis Morris finished with 7 points, ... Ryann Payne would contribute 6, ... while Newby, Trasi, and Aifuwa each had 4 points at the break.


Florida Gulf Coast remained hot as a pistol to start the 3rd quarter, as they would go on a 11-1 run over the first three minutes of the period to extend their lead to 57-44 at the 6:56 mark. LSU simply couldn't cool off or keep up with the Eagles as FGC continued to score in spurts, this time going on a 11-6 run to build a 18 point lead, 68-50 with 3:36 to go in the 3rd. The Lady Tigers showed no signs of quitting as they would battle back to outscore the Eagles 6-2 to end the 3rd period, putting the score at FGC 70, LSU 56...
Trailing by 14 going into the 4th period, LSU continued to have their hands full with the hot outside shooting of FGC. The Lady Tigers fought hard trying to cut into the Eagles lead, but both teams played even in the final period scoring 18 points each, as Florida Gulf Coast would win their 23rd straight road game, 88-74.
With the loss, LSU falls to 1-1, while FGC improves to 3-0 on the season.


The difference in the ball games was three point shooting. Florida Gulf Coast hit 14-25 from behind the arc for 56%... The Lady Tigers finished the contest with only one three pointer, going 1-6 for 16%...

Pointer finished with a double-double scoring 23 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.... Alexis Morris added 12, and Faustine Aifuwa finished with 10 points.

Next the Lady Tigers will travel right down the road to Lafayette to take on the Lady Cajuns on Thursday, Nov. 18 in the Cajundome... Tipoff is set for 6:00pm

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