College basketball

Women: LSU flaunts its depth in romp

By wire services
Published December 16, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio - LSU is a lot more than just the nation's top player.

Seimone Augustus, the defending player of the year, scored six of her 21 during a 13-0 first-half run to lead the No. 3 Tigers to a 64-48 victory over No. 4 Ohio State on Thursday night.

When she wasn't making huge plays, 6-foot-6 running mate Sylvia Fowles was. Fowles scored a career-high 25 and had 16 rebounds, making 11 of 15 shots from the field.

"People who really follow women's basketball know there's two of them," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said with a grin.

The Tigers (6-0) never trailed after the first six minutes, and their lead never dropped below double figures in the final 24. They led by as many as 25.

"That was probably our best game of the season," said Augustus, who scored in double figures for the 68th game in a row. "We were complete on the offensive and defensive ends."

The game pitted one of the elite programs - LSU has reached the Final Four the past two seasons - against an Ohio State team that has dominated in its region but longs to move into the national hierarchy.

Jessica Davenport led Ohio State (6-1) with 14 points but was constantly confronted with Fowles and at least one other defender when she touched the ball. Brandie Hoskins added 13 points.

"We knew she (Davenport) was the head of the snake," Fowles said. "We went under the assumption that if we took her away ... if we could slow her down, it would affect their team."

LSU took over the game with its defense. The first time down the floor, the Buckeyes got the ball into Davenport's hands and Fowles promptly swatted her shot away. It was a bad omen for an Ohio State offense predicated on looking inside to its All-America center.

"Everybody stuck to the defensive scheme, which was to limit Jess' touches. We wanted to make it difficult for her," Augustus said.

With the score tied at 10, the Tigers ran off the next 13 points. Augustus got it started with an 18-foot jumper, with Quianna Chaney taking a long pass in transition for a layup. Fowles then scored twice inside off backdoor lob passes, adding a free throw.

Augustus hit another perimeter jumper and scored on a drive to end the spurt.

Ohio State, which had won its past 21 home games, missed its seven shots from the field during the drought.

NO. 1 TENNESSEE 83, LA. TECH 59: Shanna Zolman scored 21 and Candace Parker had 18 points and seven rebounds, and the host Vols (9-0) took advantage of 22 turnovers.

Nicky Anosike added 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting for Tennessee, and Zolman made 5 of 7 3-pointers as the Vols won their fifth straight in the series. Aarica Ray-Boyd had 15 points, Tasha Williams 13 and Shan Moore 10 for the Techsters.

Tennessee shot 46.6 percent from the floor and held Louisiana Tech to 38.5 percent.

NO. 12 ARIZ. ST. 68, FRESNO ST. 52: Emily Westerberg had 15 points and Amy Denson scored 12 off the bench to lead the visiting Sun Devils (8-1).

Westerberg made 6 of 9 shots and all three free throws for Arizona State, which shot 52 percent (27-of-52) from the field en route to its fifth straight win.

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 00:55:10]