Women’s College Basketball | LSU’s Chancellor wins in debut
BATON ROUGE, La. - Hall of Famer Van Chancellor knew his job in his first season as Louisiana State’s coach was to upgrade the Tigers’ offense.
He appears to be on track after No. 5 LSU routed Samford 86-38 in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT on Friday night.
LSU shot 57 percent from the field, including 8 of 17 from three-point range. Quianna Chaney and Allison Hightower set career highs with 25 and 17 points, respectively.
“I said all along that this team will only go as far as our shooting will carry us,” said the 64-year-old Chancellor, who won four WNBA titles with the Houston Comets and led the U.S. team to a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics. “It’s my job to improve our offense. It’s not every game you’re going to play in that you’re going to be satisfied in every aspect of the game.”
LSU, previously coached by Pokey Chatman, will face Texas Christian in the second round Sunday. TCU defeated Radford 74-63 in its first-round matchup.
Chaney made 9 of 13 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 three-point attempts. She also finished with a game-high five assists.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Chaney said. “Coach Chancellor’s goal is for you to take the shot if you are open.”
The only other Tigers player to score in double figures was Sylvia Fowles, who finished with 10. She was limited to 16 minutes because of foul trouble.
Monica Maxwell scored eight points for the Bulldogs. Samford shot 28 percent from the field and made 28 turnovers.
“The only way to beat them was to force them to make threes,” Samford coach Mike Morris said. “They made them. The biggest difference from last year was they were more perimeter-oriented.”
Other Top 10 games
At No. 4 Maryland 76,
Princeton 52
Kristi Toliver collected 16 points and 10 assists, Jade Perry added 12 points and 10 rebounds and the Terrapins never trailed in their Preseason WNIT victory over the Tigers.
In the opener for both teams, Maryland opened the second half with a 9-3 run to go up 48-32.
Whitney Downs scored 16 points for the Tigers and Meagan Cowher, daughter of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half.
At No. 8 North Carolina 109,
North Carolina Central 32
Rashanda McCants scored a career-high 17 points, freshman Cetera DeGraffenreid added 16 and the Tar Heels set a school record for largest margin of victory.
At No. 9 Georgia 81,
Richmond 53
Ashley Houts scored 17 points and the Bulldogs broke open the game with a 25-4 run to start the second half.
Georgia, which led 35-23 at halftime, stretched the advantage to 60-27 in the first nine minutes of the second half.
Brittani Shells led the Spiders with 13 points.