Tigers dominate Bulldogs

BATON ROUGE, La. - Seimone Augustus' second-half scoring run came to an abrupt end Saturday when the Louisiana State University guard crashed into the post under the basket while going for a layup.

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Augusts managed to score 22 points before the injury - 14 in the second half - in top-ranked Louisiana State's 76-52 win over 17th-ranked Georgia.

The All-American stole the ball and drove downcourt while guarded by Janese Hardrick. Augustus apparently lost her balance when she went up for the shot and fell hard against the support with 9:48 remaining. She was helped off the court and into the locker room clutching her left arm.

Augustus was taken to the hospital, where X-rays on her left elbow were negative. Louisiana State said she had a deep bone bruise and will be evaluated again Monday.

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for Georgia (12-4, 2-1). Tasha Humphrey led the Bulldogs with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Cori Chambers added 13 points.

The Tigers (14-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), coming off their first loss of the season, played aggressive defense, holding Georgia to 37-percent shooting from the field (20-for-54).

Louisiana State also forced 16 Georgia turnovers, outrebounded the Bulldogs 51-30 and blocked 10 shots to put the game away early in the second half.

"We got beat on the boards," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "It started early and never stopped."

Up 34-22 at the break, the Tigers went ahead 46-28 with 16 minutes left on a 12-6 run fueled by five baskets by Augustus.

"Coming off a loss, we talked to our kids about this being a perfect opportunity to learn some things," Chatman said. "I felt going into the half that the stage was set to see if we had done just that."

Louisiana State shot 45 percent from the field against the Bulldogs and had only nine turnovers.

"We made a special effort to make sure we pulled out the game," Tigers guard Temeka Johnson said. "It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. We just did what we should be doing anyway."

Scholanda Hoston scored 17 points for Louisiana State and Wendlyn Jones had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

"Rebounding is just something we've always done and that our coaches always have instilled in us," Jones said. "They always tell us that we're quicker and more agile than a lot of the post players and it's easy for us to run in there and get rebounds."