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Webb leads No. 7 LSU past Houston, 72-54

Nov 21, 2009 - 9:12 PM BATON ROUGE, La.(AP) -- LSU coach Van Chancellor made it clear he wants better performances from his No. 7 LSU team, despite a 72-54 victory against Houston.

"We cannot accept this effort," Chancellor said Saturday after the Cougars gave the undefeated Lady Tigers their toughest game of the season. "We cannot accept what we did defensively."

Freshman guard Adrienne Webb came off the bench to score 17 points for LSU (3-0). She hit three of four 3-point shots. Senior guard Allison Hightower scored 16 points, 10 in the second half.

"We're going to live with what we did on offense," Chancellor said. "We're not going to accept what we did on defense."

Courtney Taylor led Houston (3-1) with 18 points and nine rebounds. Coach Joe Curl was more complimentary of LSU than Chancellor.

"This team, I hope, has a Final Four written on them," Curl said, "because they're very talented, they're very long. Their length really hurt us."

So did LSU's depth.

"I was wishing that we could play against the bottom five," Curl said, "but I thought they looked better than their first five."

LSU guard Katherine Graham added a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) and forward Taylor Turnbow came close (12 points, nine rebounds).

Webb scored 10 more points than her output in the first two games.

"I felt like we have to find someone to try and step in and fill in for whoever is not scoring, because we weren't scoring at will like we were (in the first two games)," she said.

Turnbow helped LSU build a 31-22 halftime lead with 10 points and eight rebounds. She scored on three consecutive possessions during a span of nearly five minutes when Houston was held scoreless.

Houston, playing on the road for the third time in its four games, didn't play the role of overmatched sparring partner. The Cougars led 12-8 nearly midway through the first half, forcing missed shots with aggressive defense around the basket.

LSU became more assertive after a timeout with 10:31 left before halftime, taking a 20-12 lead in less than three minutes.