Nashville, Tenn. -- Demina Anderson scored a team high 17 points for 16th-seeded
Florida Atlantic as they were held off by top-seeded Louisiana State, 72-48, in
the first round of the NCAA Women's Tournament at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gymnasium
Saturday afternoon.
In its first ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance, Florida Atlantic (20-11,
16-4 A-Sun) hung with LSU (28-3, 13-1 SEC) early on, leading 14-13 during the
first 10 minutes of play, before the Lady Tigers went on a 20-0 run in the first
half, spawned by National Player of the Year Seimone Augustus. The Owls headed
into halftime with a 17-point deficit, down 35-18.
After the break, Florida Atlantic came back to score 30 second half points led
by Anderson. All-Atlantic Sun and A-Sun Tournament MVP Shontavia Williams posted eight
points and nine boards.
For LSU, Augustus led all scorers with 24 points and four rebounds, while Sylvia
Fowles and Quianna Chaney each chipped in 13 points. Ashley Thomas pulled down
a game high 12 rebounds. LSU will take on Washington in the second round of the
tourney.