BATON ROUGE, La. - Seimone Augustus scored 25 points and Sylvia Fowles grabbed 17 rebounds and No. 1 LSU beat No. 5 Tennessee 68-58 Thursday night in a Southeastern Conference showdown.
It was the first time LSU (22-1, 8-0) beat Tennessee (18-4, 8-1) in two years. The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Vols and a 42-game SEC regular-season winning streak that dated back to a loss at Vanderbilt on Feb. 2, 2002.
The Tigers shot 52 percent, including almost 58 percent in the second half, while holding Tennessee to 31 percent from the field.
Scholanda Hoston scored 16 for the Tigers.
Shanna Zolman led Tennessee with 21 points. Nicky Anosike had 10 rebounds for the Vols. Tennessee outrebounded LSU 44-35, including 22-7 on the offensive boards.
It was the biggest crowd in LSU women's basketball history — 15,233 — and the fourth largest in the history of the Pete Maravich Center.
It's a rivalry that LSU has long yearned to even up.
The first time LSU reached an NCAA regional final in 1986, it lost to Tennessee. Both times LSU won the SEC Tournament (1991 and 2003) it had to beat Tennessee. When LSU finally reached its first Final Four in April in New Orleans, Tennessee was waiting. The Vols' 52-50 victory sent LSU home. It was one of the 32 games Tennessee had won in 40 previous meetings with LSU.
LSU opened the game with a 7-0 run and Tennessee trailed for nearly the entire first half. But LSU turned the ball over with 7 seconds left and Sade Wiley-Gatewood hit a 3-pointer to give the Vols their first lead of the game, 28-27 at the half.
Tennessee stretched its lead to four on 3-pointers by Loree Moore and Brittany Jackson early in the second half, but LSU answered with a 10-1 run to go up 44-39. Augustus' jumper with 9:32 remaining gave the Tigers a 50-43 edge.
LSU, with the top scoring defense in the SEC, held Tennessee to a pair of field goals for a 6:18 stretch. By the time Zolman's 3-pointer went in with 4:11 left, the Tigers led 59-48.
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