The LSU women’s basketball team came away from the Eugene sub-regional to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
But not before the Lady Tigers came excruciatingly close to being upset by eighth-seeded Wisconsin-Green Bay.
LSU won the second-round game, held at McArthur Court on Monday, 80-69, but led by as little as five with under three minutes left to play.
“We were very close to shocking the NCAA world, very close,” UWGB head coach Kevin Borseth said. “This year, I knew the players we had were winners. They just don’t give up.”
LSU, the top seed in the West region and ranked third in the nation, was led offensively by Doneeka Hodges, who had 20 points on the strength of 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the three-point line. As a team, the Lady Tigers shot an astounding 63.3 percent from the field.
All of that after starting point guard Temeka Johnson left the game with just less than 13 minutes left, after receiving an errant elbow from UWGB center Chandra Johnson.
“Any time you lose a player of that caliber, someone else has to step up,” Hodges said. “We didn’t really have to say anything; we just knew we had to keep playing.”
Down 71-62 with three minutes left, UWGB’s Johnson pulled the Phoenix closer with a tip-in. She was fouled on the play by Seimone Augustus, and sank her only free throw to pinch the score to five.
The Phoenix got within six, 73-67, minutes later, but Hodges hit a three with 57 seconds left, then proceeded to sink four-straight free throws to ice the game.
Johnson had a momentous game for the Phoenix in her final outing for UWGB. She scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed five rebounds.
“It was really fun to see Chandra come full-circle and end her career with a great tourney against some real good teams.”
With the win, LSU advanced to the third round against Louisiana Tech, played Sunday at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.

No. 8 UWGB 78,

No. 9 Washington 65
The Phoenix started the tournament in style, defeating the only Pacific-10 Conference representative in the Eugene bracket.
Tiffany Mor led UWGB with 15 points, but as a team, the Phoenix were balanced offensively. They had five players score in double figures and shot 49 percent from the field as a team. They also committed just nine turnovers against the Huskies.
Giuliana Mendiola had 22 points for Washington in the loss.
“I am extremely disappointed to lose this game,” Washington head coach June Daugherty said. “At times we battled hard, but we just couldn’t get it done.”
The game ended the collegiate careers of five Washington seniors. Leading the way was Loree Payne, who decimated Oregon in her career. In her final game against the Ducks earlier this season, she posted 24 points for the Huskies in a 75-59 victory.
“This is a great group of five and they are leaving an unbelievable legacy,” Daugherty said. “They worked really hard in the off-season and every year they have improved.”

No. 1 LSU 86,

No. 16 SW Texas 50
The Lady Tigers showed why they were the top-ranked team in the West and why the Bobcats were No. 16. Roneeka Hodges scored 16 points for LSU as the Lady Tigers shot 58.8 percent from the field.
Tori Talbert led Southwest Texas with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting, but LSU was just too much to handle. The Lady Tigers entered the locker room at halftime with a 47-25 lead.
The game was a far cry from the 91-40 LSU victory earlier in the season, but still, it was a convincing win for the Lady Tigers. LSU won the rebounding battle (31-29), and had 12 assists to SW Texas’ nine. The Lady Tigers did commit 15 turnovers, but the Bobcats were credited with 20.
“For the first 10 minutes of the game, I think we stayed within our game plan,” SW Texas head coach Suzanne Fox said. “Then LSU began to change the tempo and we didn’t play the kind of basketball that got us here.”