Lady Tigers fall to Georgetown 71-69

Senior guard Adrienne Webb scored a game-high 21 points, but LSU's comeback attempt from a nine-point deficit in the final 1:22 fell short as Georgetown held on to beat the Lady Tigers 71-69 last night in McDonough Arena.

LSU (1-2) dropped its second straight game on its current four-game road trip, while falling to Georgetown (2-1) for the first time in the series history. The Lady Tigers had a chance to tie it in the final 20 seconds, trailing 69-66, but Jeanne Kenney's three misfired off the iron.

The Hoyas connected for nine threes on the night, including four from Brittany Horne. All-Big East guard Sugar Rodgers finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Both teams struggled mightily from the free throw line. LSU shot 14-of-26, while Georgetown was just 18-of-32, and that kept the game alive for the Lady Tigers down the stretch.

"We can't miss free throws like that down the stretch," said LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell. "We had some open looks, and didn't knock them down. We had plenty of opportunities to stretch this game out in the second half. We did what we had to do to comeback but then had to do it all over again. There is a lot of fight in this team. We need to put it together for 40 minutes."

Webb scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. Theresa Plaisance poured in a career-high 20 points, including 17 in the second half, to go along with seven rebounds, three blocks and five steals. Jeanne Kenney dished out a career-high eight assists and scored 11 points.

LSU led 32-26 with 18:09 in the second half following Bianca Lutley's three-point play, but the Lady Tigers went scoreless for the next six minutes. Rodgers' three made it 36-32 Hoyas with 11:57 remaining. They outscored LSU 17-2 from 18:09 until the 9:50 mark and built a 43-34 advantage.

Plaisance and Webb refused to let the Lady Tigers go quietly. Danielle Ballard drained a three from the top of the key. Webb then knocked down three free throws and nailed another trey to make it 65-59 with 1:15 left. Plaisance stormed the offensive glass, made a free throw and converted a lay-up on the next trip down that sliced the deficit to one possession with 0:26 remaining.

Kenney's three from the left wing missed, and Rodgers put the game away at the line with two free throws.

The Hoyas out-rebounded LSU 40-36, converting 16 second-chance points and 25 points off turnovers. They also outshot the Lady Tigers 44.9 percent to 37.9 percent.

LSU hits the road again Wednesday in preparation for the Florida International Thanksgiving Classic. The Lady Tigers play No. 14 West Virginia at 7 p.m. Friday in Miami. Iowa and FIU also make up the field. The two winners and two losers play each other on Sunday.