Allen leads but LSU rolls past Arkansas

BATON ROUGE, La. – Junior Seimone Augustus led four Lady Tigers in double digits as second-ranked Louisiana State had too much offense for the University of Arkansas, 91-45, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Thursday night. Arkansas, 11-6, dropped to 1-5 in league play while LSU moved to 17-1 overall and remained undefeated in the SEC at 4-0. Sophomore Danielle Allen led Arkansas with 16 points. After a brief strong start, Arkansas was rattled by LSU early. “We tried to call time outs and make adjustments, but they have a great team and they gave us a lot of problems,” UA head coach Susie Gardner said. “Danielle (Allen) had a good game and she did what she could.” While LSU’s potent offense hurt the Lady’Backs in the first half, Arkansas took its toughest blow at the 8:29 mark in the first half as junior substitute post Ruby Vaden went down in the lane clutching her right leg. Vaden was taken from the floor on a rolling stretcher, and Lady’Back basketball trainer Phill Vardiman indicated that Vaden would see the team physicians on Friday to determine the extent of her injury. “It’s too early to tell right now, but Phill will get her in as soon as we can,” Gardner said. LSU shot 60% for most of the game, finishing the contest at 57.6%. As strong as the Lady Tiger offense was, it was defense that defined the game as Arkansas managed only 29.4% from the field. LSU played its 16th game of the season holding the opponent under 55 points. “They were big and athletics,” Allen said. “It was a hard loss. But we’ve got to stay strong and stay tough.” Allen got Arkansas off to a fast start with first six points for the Lady’Backs, but from the 6-6 start LSU launched a 16-point run fueled by six from Jones and five from Augustus. Vaden snapped the run with a layup at 10:35, but LSU continued to add to the lead with 60% shooting from the field to take a 52-26 halftime lead. Allen finished the half with 14, her best in a single half, hitting 7-of-11 from the field. Unfortunately the rest of the Lady’Backs combined for 5-of-18. Augustus matched Allen’s 14 at intermission as LSU added to their accuracy by forcing 13 Arkansas turnovers. Joining Augustus in double figutres were Quianna Chaney and Sylvia Fowles with 11 each and Temeka Johnson with 10. Arkansas returns home for a Sunday afternoon game with South Carolina at 2 p.m.