WBB: Ags can’t rebound from SC loss vs LSU

The Women’s Bouncy Ball team dropped to 0-2 in SEC play with an ugly loss in Baton Rouge. Ugly loss at LSU has been an unfortunate recurring theme for the ladies in recent years.

It’s a bit hard to do a recap on this one because it was only on streaming and my stream kept cutting out in the middle of the game. But my impressions from what I could see are reinforced in the stats and other coverage.

As predicted, LSU played their zone D the whole game and jumped passing lanes. The Ags combined poor passes into the zone with some really bad passes without pressure to have 11 turnovers in the first half. This was combined with poor shooting (33.3% with Carter going 2-10) and a less than expected rebounding edge (22-21 in the first half) to allow LSU to hold a lead despite their own abysmal offensive performance (25% shooting). In the second quarter neither team reached double digits, and at halftime the Tigers led by 21-20.

It looked like perhaps A&M might assert superiority when the second half opened with Carter taking the lead with a 3 pointer. The turnovers were more under control and now LSU was turning it over. With 7:42 remaining in the third quarter, Carter was called for a foul and got T’d up for her second and third fouls. The Ags best offensive play came after that, but A&M couldn’t maintain a run and the lead changed 9 times in the quarter, which ended with A&M up 41-42.

The turnover problems came back to start the final quarter, and LSU got up 5 less than 2 minutes in to the 4th. A&M would come back to tie at 51 with 4:15 remaining but a FT preceding Carter’s 4th foul with 3:04 left would be the last scoring by A&M for the rest of the game. Carter would foul out on a charge call with 2:37 remaining and LSU up 55-52. That shouldn’t have been insuperable, especially when Ciera Johnson stole the ball from Faustine Aifuwa on the ensuing play. But after a missed layup with 2:04 left, A&M turned it over repeatedly and didn’t even attempt a shot until just 16 seconds were left and intentional fouls had made it a 9 point game.

Final score LSU 63, Texas A&M 52

• Carter led the team with 20 points and had 10 rebounds for a double double. The shooting percentage was much better in the second half at 6-9 and she got to the FT line to hit 3-5. But she had 8 turnovers and just 2 assists. As the game wore on, in my opinion she tried too hard to win it by herself by dribbling into double and triple teams.
• Ciera Johnson was the only other Ag in double figures with 13 points. She added 8 rebounds.
• Overall, LSU ended up outrebounding A&M. It’s good to have rebounding guards, but perhaps not so great when Chennedy Carter is the team’s leading rebounder.
• Khayla Pointer led all scorers with 22. Ayana Mitchell had a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards. She also took several charges including the one that sent Carter out of the game.

Up Next

• Vanderbilt Commodores
• Thu Jan 10, 2019 2PM
• Memorial Gym, Nashville, TN
• SECN+ Streaming

Vanderbilt is 5-10 on the season and has lost 5 of their last 6, including their first 2 SEC games at Kentucky and against Georgia at home on Sunday. Vandy has been decimated by injuries and transfers and has been down to seven players for much of the season. Chelsea Hall was back for Kentucky last week but reaggravated an injury and didn’t play against Georgia. Vanderbilt has been adding walk-ons and soccer players to fill out the roster.

• #34 6-5 RS Jr Tr F Mariella Fasoula leads the Dores in scoring at 17.6 ppg and in rebounding with 7.4 rpg. She’s started all 13 games. She transferred from Boston College after the 2016-17 season and sat last year. She used part of that time to play on the Greek National Team.
• #24 6-2 So F Autumn Newby averages 8.1 ppg and has started the 11 games she’s been available for.
• #10 5-8 Jr G Cierra Walker is averaging 11.8 ppg. She’s the only other starter to start all 13.
• #30 5-11 Jr G Lealea Carter averages 7.5 ppg and has been in all 13 games, starting in 4.
• #35 5-7 Jr G Kaleigh Clemons-Green averags 4.3 ppg and has started 8.12.

Vanderbilt is having another rough year under HC Stephanie White, but we tend to struggle in Memorial Gym and the way the team is playing right now, this isn’t a gimme.