SEC Champions (Continued) 1991 SEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS LSU claimed its first Tournament title in 1991 as the Lady Tigers had one of the most impressive runs in conference tournament history. Entering the tournament as the No. 4 seed, the Lady Tigers had a first round bye and then beat Kentucky, 96-76, in the second round. The Lady Tigers, who were ranked No. 12 in the nation, then upset fourthranked Georgia, 83-74, in the semifinals. In the title game, point guard Pokey Chatman scored 30 points, including 16 straight at one point, as the Lady Tigers knocked off third-ranked Tennessee, 80-75. Chatman was named most valuable player of the tournament, while Sheila Johnson and Annette Jackson-Lowery were named to the alltournament team.
2003 SEC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS The LSU's run through the Southeastern Conference Tournament was something special in 2003. It had been 12 years since LSU had last won a tournament title and the Lady Tigers were hungry for the crown. Standing in the way of the second seeded and sixth-ranked Lady Tigers in the opening game were the No. 23 Arkansas Lady Razorbacks, a team that had handed LSU its first defeat of the season in Fayetteville earlier during the season. It would prove to be the closest margin of victory in LSU’s run to the title. LSU defeated Arkansas 78-72 thanks to some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch, including Seimone Augustus’ two free throws with 19 seconds to play to give the freshman her 21st and 22nd points of the game and LSU a four-point lead. Four of the five starters for LSU scored in double figures in the opening round victory over Arkansas. In addition to Augustus, Temeka Johnson added 15 points, while Doneeka Hodges and Aiysha Smith both hit for 11 points. 15th-ranked Vanderbilt was the next item on the menu for the Lady Tigers. The Commodores were also a team that had defeated LSU during the regular season. In fact, the defending SEC Tournament champions had knocked off LSU just the week before in Nashville and were playing with a lot of confidence heading into the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. Vandy had so much confidence in themselves they led by as many as nine in the first half and took a 39-35 lead into the locker room at halftime after shooting 51.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play. LSU did not take its first lead of the game until Seimone Augustus hit a pair of free throws with 17 minutes to play to give the Lady Tigers a 44-43 advantage. The lead went back and forth for most of the second half until LSU closed the game with a 12-2 run in the final four minutes to advance to their second-straight SEC Tournament title game. Augustus took over the game during the final run, scoring 14 of her 20 points in the final four minutes of play. Aiysha Smith led LSU with 21 points, while Temeka Johnson added 12 points and Augustus had nine rebounds to go along with her point total. The stage was set for the SEC title game, sixth-ranked LSU vs. No. 3 Tennessee for the SEC Championship. It marked a rematch of the 68-65 Lady Vol victory during the regular season in Baton Rouge. The Lady Tigers took control of the game early, jumping out to a 7-0 lead while taking a 42-25 lead at the break. Tennessee managed to trim the margin down to 13 with 15 minutes to play before the Lady Tigers took the largest lead of the game at 18 with 10 minutes left. Temeka Johnson took home MVP honors after scoring a career-high 24 points in the victory. She added nine rebounds and seven assists in the win. Aiysha Smith added 18 points, while Seimone Augustus had 12 points and eight rebounds on her way to an all-tournament team selection. LSU avenged all three of its regular season losses with three wins over three top 25 teams in three days to win the 2003 SEC Tournament Championship.
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2020-21 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RECORD BOOK
