Wake Forest University
LSU
Deacs Drop Back and Forth Bout at LSU
11/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) 
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeWBB)
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Wake Forest women's basketball took a four-point lead to the fourth quarter but couldn't hold off LSU at Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday night as the Tigers earned a 60-57 victory.
Leading 47-43 after three quarters, the Demon Deacons extended the lead to a game-high six with 9:25 to play after an Alex Sharp jumper. From there, LSU went on a 12-2 run over a nearly four-minute stretch to build a 55-51 lead with 4:42 to play.
With less than two minutes to go and the Tigers leading by five at 58-53, Elisa Penna hit two free throws and Amber Campbell put home a layup to cut the lead to just one with 33 seconds to play as Wake Forest called a timeout to set the defense. Needing the ball back, the Deacs tried for the steal but couldn't coax the ball away and fouled with three seconds to go. Following two Chloe Jackson free throws and a Wake Forest timeout that allowed the Deacs to advance the ball to midcourt, Campbell got a look from three-point land but it was heavily defended and her shot rimmed off as LSU held on for the win.
Wake Forest, now 1-1 on the season, was led by Campbell's 16 points on 8-of-14 from the floor. Sharp was the only other Deacon in double figures with 12 points to go with seven rebounds. Her seven boards tied with Kortni Simmons for the team lead. Though Ariel Stephenson didn't reach double-figure points for just the 10th time in her career, she did lead the Deacs with six assists and had four rebounds. With Penna in foul trouble early, Tyra Whitehead played significant minutes off the bench and finished with eight points on 3-of-3 from the field and 2-for-2 at the free throw line with four rebounds.
For the game, Wake Forest shot 47.1 percent and hit 24-of-53 shots. That followed up a 54.1 percent performance on Friday night in the 10-point win over Navy. Out of the halftime break, the Demon Deacons shot 64.3 percent on 9-of-14 to take the four-point lead to the final quarter, but could only hit four of 14 shots in the last 10 minutes as LSU pulled its way back.
Neither team was effective from long range as Wake Forest hit two of 19 attempted threes (10.5 percent) and LSU was just 1-for-14 for a 7.1 percent clip. Neither team led by more than seven throughout the night as LSU held a seven-point lead midway through the second quarter and the Demon Deacons led by as many as six, which came early in the fourth. In all, the game was tied six times to go with eight lead changes throughout the night.
Ayana Mitchell led the Tigers (2-0) with 16 points. She also came down with seven rebounds in the game. Both Jackson and Alexis Hyder finished in double figures as Hyder had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Jackson 11 points with three assists.
The Deacs and Tigers have now split the series over the course of the last two seasons with each team taking a 60-57 victory on their home court. Last season, Wake Forest topped LSU on opening night at LJVM Coliseum by the same score.
Wake Forest will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 17, at home inside LJVM Coliseum against Rutgers. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. The game opens a run of three in a row at home over the course of six days with Eastern Michigan coming to Winston-Salem, N.C., on Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. and Furman at 4 p.m. on Nov. 23 as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team taking on Coastal Carolina at 7:30 p.m. later in the evening.
