Lassiter leads La Tech to regional final
How could there beâ¢
Lassiter did anything and everything en route to converting the biggest shot of her life, the shot that catapulted her team to a 78-67 victory over upstart Missouri and to a spot in the Elite Eight.
Up next for No. 6 Louisiana Tech (31-4) is a showdown with No. 1 Connecticut (31-2) at 7:07 p.m. tomorrow in a game that will determine which team advances to the Final Four in St. Louis.
Louisiana Tech has won 19 consecutive games since a 71-55 loss to Connecticut on Jan. 7.
'I'm just glad to be moving on,' Lassiter said.
The Lady Techsters can thank Lassiter if this run through the NCAA tournament continues, because she's the one that put the dagger in the back of a Missouri team (22-10) that wasn't expected to be here, a Missouri team that was the Cinderella of this region.
The clock finally struck midnight on the ladies from the 'Show Me' state with exactly 1:45 to play and third-seeded Louisiana Tech clinging to a four-point lead. In an effort to run time off the clock, Lassiter dribbled patiently up the court, looking for an opening in the Missouri defense.
As the shot clock melted away into single digits, Lassiter dribbled to her left and tried to send a pass to teammate Takeisha Lewis, who wasn't looking. The ball bounced off Lewis's back and right into the hands of Lassiter, who threw up a desperation, fall-away shot that hit the air a split second before the buzzer sounded on the shot clock.
Swish.
Lassiter laid on the ground in amazement. Her teammates looked on in awe. Missouri was dumbfounded.
The improbable basket triggered a 14-7 run for Louisiana Tech to close out the game, as the Lady Techsters advanced to the Elite Eight for the 14th time in coach Leon Barmore's 19 years there.
'I was just glad it went in,' Lassiter said. 'I didn't plan it that way.'
Of course not, which is why the Missouri players were so devastated. The No. 10 seed Tigers had gone toe-to-toe with the Lady Techsters throughout the afternoon, but Lassiter's shot was a back-breaker, a deal closer, a game changer.
The Tigers were so overwhelmed by Lassiter's improbable play that their ensuing inbounds pass was stolen by ... guess who⢠Lassiter converted her theft into a three-point play when she was fouled while going in for a layup.
That gave the Lady Techsters a nine-point lead with just 1:38 remaining and put them in control.
Game over.
'They got the momentum after her basket,' said Missouri guard Kerensa Barr. 'We made plays like that against Georgia (in a second-round upset) and you could see that it took them out of the game. I think that happened to us. We never recovered from that shot.'
Said Barmore: 'Those two baskets were the clinchers. The fall-away basket was huge for us.'
Huge would best describe the numbers that Lassiter and fellow junior, Lewis, put up. Lassiter, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored 25 points, hitting 7 of 9 shots from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line, while Lewis, a 6-2 center, set career highs in scoring with 27 points and in rebounding with 17.
What makes those numbers extra impressive is that Lewis and Lassiter had just seven points each when the Lady Techsters went into halftime clinging to a 30-28 lead. Lewis, who is battling the flu, hit 9 of 13 shots in the final 20 minutes.
'I thought we almost lost the game in the first half,' said Barmore, whose entire team returns next season. 'We had 11 turnovers at halftime - we didn't want to make those types of mistakes. But we made up for our poor effort when we came back out. Especially Lewis, she was unbelievable.'
Louisiana Tech needed Lewis to be 'unbelievable' because the pesky Tigers would not go away. Every time it looked like the Lady Techsters were about to put the game out of reach, Missouri fought back.
The Tigers even held a 36-32 advantage after the other Lassiter in this game - Amanda of Missouri - hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half. But that wasn't enough to affect tournament-tested Louisiana Tech, which went on a 16-2 run to reassert control.
Missouri fought back to make it 64-60 on 3-pointer by Barr, but the Tigers got no closer after Louisiana Tech's Lassiter connected on her unforgettable shot.
'This team finds a way win,' Barmore said. 'It may be the most special team I've coached.'
NOTES - Amanda Lassiter scored 19 points to lead Missouri, while teammates Barr (11) and Tracy Franklin (10) also scored in double digits. ... Ayana Walker had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Louisiana Tech. ... Missouri was 0 of 11 from 3-point range in the first half and 4 of 21 for the game. ... Louisiana Tech outrebounded Missouri, 49-28.
