The Lady Tigers (29-5) earned their sixth-straight trip to the Sweet 16 where they will face No. 3 seed Oklahoma State in the New Orleans Arena on Saturday, March 29. Oklahoma State defeated 11th-seeded Florida State in overtime to advance to New Orleans.
Monday night’s win improves LSU record to 34-17 in the NCAA Tournament, including a 12-4 record in the second round.
The Red Foxes end their season with a 32-3 record.
Sylvia Fowles posted her 84th career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. With her 13 boards, Fowles took the top spot for career rebounds (1,527) in Southeastern Conference history. The previous record (1,525) was set by Kentucky’s Valerie Still in 1983.
Monday night’s contest marked the 141st game for Fowles as a Lady Tiger, setting a new school record for career games played.
Erica White had a strong all-around performance with 15 points, four steals and four assists. Quianna Chaney also scored in double digits by chipping in 10 points on 4-8 shooting.
Red Fox Julianne Viani led all scorers with 21 points by hitting eight of her 14 shots, including five treys.
After being outrebound 17-14 in the first half, The Lady Tigers owned the boards in the second half and finished the game with a 32-27 rebound advantage, including 16 on the offensive side.
LSU went up by 10 with six minutes to go in the first half when Fowles hit a free throw to complete a three-point play. The Red Foxes quickly stole the momentum by going on a 12-4 run to trim LSU’s lead, 29-27, and close out the first half.
After being limited to six minutes and zero points in the first half due to foul trouble, White led a Lady Tiger second half rally by scoring 13 points in the first 12 minutes. With LSU up 50-41 with nine minutes left, White hit a three from the left wing that electrified the crowd and put the Lady Tigers in cruise control as they would lead by double digits the rest of game.
With 1:27 left in the game, LSU's senior starters were subbed out and received a standing ovation in their PMAC finale. LSU’s senior class of Chaney, Fowles, RaShonta LeBlanc, Khalilah Mitchell, Ashley Thomas, White, Marian Whitfield and Mesha Williams compiled an outstanding 54-3 record at the Maravich Center.
The Lady Tigers raced around the Maravich Center high-fiving the LSU faithful to thank them for their loyal support over the past four years.