Chaney leads No. 11 Lady Tigers to win over FSU

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 4, 2008

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., — Quianna Chaney scored a career-high 27 points, including the first 14 of the game, to lead the 11th-ranked LSU women’s basketball team to a 73-61 victory over Florida State on Thursday night at the Tucker Center.

Chaney helped LSU (11-3) jump out to a 8-0 lead in the game with two three-pointers and a lay-up and the proceeded to then score the next six for the Lady Tigers.

Florida State (10-5) cut the lead to four, 8-4, a few minutes into the game, but could not get any closer.

LSU took as much as a 16-point lead in the first half, 27-11, with 9:51 left in the half and held on to lead 38-26 at the break.

The Seminoles scored 15 of the first 20 points to open the second half to cut the lead back down to four, 45-41, but could not get any closer. LSU used a 9-2 run after that to pull away again.

“This was a big win for us on the road,” LSU head coach Van Chancellor. “We did not know if Sylvia was going to be able to play, but we came out and played really well as a team and jumped out early. That made the difference.”

Sylvia Fowles, who returned to action after missing the last two games with a knee injury, scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes.

Erica White added eight points, while Ashley Thomas posted seven points and six boards and RaShonta LeBlanc had five points and six rebounds. Chaney added five assists and four steals to the victory.

Shante Williams led Florida State with 20 points and Antionette Howard added 11 points off the bench.

LSU shot 54.0 percent from the floor for the game, including 59.1 percent in the second half. FSU shot 35.7 percent and missed 10 of its first 11 shots to open the game.

The Seminoles won the battle of the boards, 36-31, but LSU collected 11 steals on 16 FSU turnovers that led to 25 points for the Lady Tigers.

LSU takes another week before opening Southeastern Conference play on Thursday at Arkansas.

GAME NOTES- Quianna Chaney became the 27th player in LSU history to reach 1,000 career points when she hit a three-pointer with 16:33 left in the first half. Chaney finished the game with 27 points, the 50th career double figure scoring game for the senior.

– Chaney reached the 20-point plateau for the seventh time in her career and the third time this season with her 27 points tonight.

– Sylvia Fowles returned to game action with 15:27 left in the first half. The senior played 22 minutes and collected 11 points and six rebounds.