BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Theresa Plaisance scored 19 points and Danielle Ballard got her first double-double of the season Sunday as No. 12 LSU handed Florida its only conference defeat 82-68.
The Lady Tigers (13-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) opened with a 14-2 burst sparked by a Jeanne Kenney 3-pointer to build a lead it never lost, but later had to quell a Florida drive midway through the second half to secure the win.
Ballard contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds for LSU, while Shanece McKinney added 10 points.
Trailing by as many as 19 points, Florida (13-4, 3-1) shaved the deficit to single-digits in the second half with a 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Kayla Lewis, making it 62-55 with 8:23 to go. The Lady Tigers responded with an 11-4 run to keep the game out of reach.
Cassie Peoples led the Gators with 22 points.
