LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky tried everything it could to stop LSU All-American Sylvia Fowles and nothing worked.
Fowles had 20 points and 10 rebounds for her 72nd career double-double and the Tigers (16-3, 5-0) continued their dominance of the Southeastern Conference with a 72-46 victory over the Wildcats on Sunday.
LSU coach Van Chancellor said he wasn’t surprised Kentucky threw everything — sometimes as many as four different defenders — against his star center. He also wasn’t surprised that she didn’t appear fazed.
“When she brings it like she did tonight, she’s hard to guard, I don’t care who you are,” Chancellor said. “What you saw tonight is what you see every night.”
The Wildcats did manage to bother Fowles early on with their defense which was designed to shut her down.
“I can remember going back to the bench after getting frustrated,” Fowles said. “Coach chewed me out a little bit. It got me pumped, got me motivated to go back and play.”
The Tigers have won their five league games by an average of nearly 26 points and appear to be on a collision course with No. 2 Tennessee on Feb. 14 that could determine SEC supremacy. Chancellor, however, refuses to let his players look ahead — focusing instead on the next game Thursday against South Carolina.
Kentucky (10-10, 4-2) could have moved into a tie with the Tigers for second place with a victory but was thoroughly overmatched.
“Just real disappointed,” Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said. “A real bad day for us, and we will just have to get better and try to bounce back.”
Although not quite as lopsided as LSU’s record-setting 53-point blowout against Mississippi State earlier this month, this was the Tigers’ second-largest win in league play, and the outcome was never in much doubt.
Kentucky missed its first three shots and had four early turnovers, failing to score until Amber Smith’s layup four and a half minutes into the game.
By then, LSU had jumped out to a 12-0 lead, with half of those points coming on consecutive wide-open 3s by Quianna Chaney.
The Tigers would connect on just three more long-range buckets, but wouldn’t need them. Not the way Fowles dominated the post, even amid double and triple-teams.
“We jump out of the box scoring and doing everything we have to do to try to make it difficult for them,” Fowles said. “That was our game plan and we followed through.”
On one possession early in the second half, three Wildcats hovered beneath the basket looking to rebound an LSU miss. Fowles jumped higher than them all, grabbing the ball with her left hand and tossing back an easy layup.
Fowles made nine of 11 shots from the field, and she proved too much to handle for Kentucky’s tallest player, 6-foot-6 senior Sarah Elliott, who picked up her fourth foul with eight minutes left.
“We were well aware not one person could guard her all night,” Elliott said. “That’s why she’s an All-American. She never stops trucking.”
Elliott was more of a force on offense, leading Kentucky with 17 points.
The Wildcats’ outside shooting wasn’t much better as they connected on just one of eight 3-point attempts. That was by star guard Samantha Mahoney, who made just two of 12 shots from the field, finishing with 12 points.
Chaney (13) and Allison Hightower (12) joined Fowles as double-digit scorers for the Tigers.
Kentucky’s only modest run came midway through the first half to cut the deficit to 14-8. The Wildcats would get no closer as LSU stormed into halftime on a 14-3 run, putting them ahead 41-23.
