TigerBait.com - Lady Tigers follow Hightower's lead

March 22, 2009

William Weathers
TigerBait.com Managing Editor

The plane ride back from last year's Final Four in Tampa, Fla. was a sobering moment for LSU's Allison Hightower.

Not only had the Lady Tigers seen their opportunity of making their appearance in a national championship game extinguished in a dramatic one-point loss to Tennessee but the realization hit home for Hightower ? no longer would she be able to play alongside the school's most successful senior class, led by All-American Sylvia Fowles.

Hightower was only one of four players with remaining eligibility on that return flight last April to Baton Rouge and probably had some reservations about where the program was headed and would it land on solid ground.

"It was like, 'it's really over'," Hightower said of LSU's latest run to the Final Four ? the program's fifth straight. "I just took it as I had to come back in the offseason and start preparing right away. Just start working on my game and all of the things I could improve on."

Instead of having an almost Mt. Rushmore of Sylvia Fowles, Ashley Thomas, Erica White, Quianna Chaney and RaShonta LeBlanc to rely on any longer, the face of LSU's program turned to that of the 5-foot-10, wiry-built Hightower to carry on the school's winning legacy and help facilitate the program's principles with a heralded group of seven freshmen and a junior college signee.

What Hightower has proven is that the Arlington, Texas native was capable of providing the type of leadership necessary to maintain the purple and gold standard set before her ? one that will continue this weekend when No. 6 LSU (18-10) host No. 11 Green Bay (29-3) in Sunday's first round of the NCAA tournament at 6 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

"It's phenomenal what she's done for LSU women's basketball this year," LSU women's basketball coach Van Chancellor said. "No player in the country has done more for her team than what Allison has done for ours."

Hightower successfully made the transition from LSU's top reserve her first two seasons to the team's standout player.

Hightower, the Southeastern Conference's Sixth Woman of the Year last season, has essentially doubled her entire statistical output from a year ago ? starting with her minutes played to 35 per game, rebounding (4.4), assists (82), blocked shots (35), steals (52) and more importantly scoring (14.3).

For her efforts Hightower was named to the All-SEC first team by both the coaches and The Associated Press and the league's All-Defensive team.

"It's just doing the little things and working hard every day," Hightower said. "If you work hard good things will come. It took me two years to start and all of these things that I'm getting now is just an honor. It's just a process and you've got to continue to work hard and push yourself and continue to help the team and be unselfish. I haven't really changed that much. I've only continued to work hard and better myself and better my team."

Consistency has become a hallmark of Hightower's game to go with her trademark mid-air flair with an array of floaters and runners.

Hightower has reached double-figures in 24 of LSU's 28 games and had a stretch of 15 straight double-digit games snapped in the semifinals of the SEC tournament in a 61-47 loss to Vanderbilt.

It was the game before that where Hightower scored a career-high 23 points to help LSU avenge a pair of losses to Mississippi State with a 63-58 quarterfinal win in the postseason tournament. It was the fifth 20-plus point game of the season for Hightower who has scored 896 points in her 103-game career.

"When you're coming off the bench you have one mentality," Chancellor said. "Now you are going to be THE player and you got to want to be THE player. A lot of players don't want to be that. They don't want all that pressure, all the responsibility. She's accepted that."

Despite the obvious elevation in her overall game there's been only one glaring weakness that even Hightower's admittedly struggled with during the course of the season.

Hightower has embraced the qualities that go with being the team's co-captain, along with senior Kristen Morris, but instead of falling into the category of a vocal leader the three-year letter winner has been content to pave the through a less auditory manner -- through hard work, dedication and of course filling up the stat sheet with plenty of positive contributions.

"I don't talk or yell much on the court, I've never done that," Hightower said. "I've been trying to work on it but it's just so hard for me. That's how I've been my whole life. ... lead by example is something I could do. I work hard all the time. I try to work as hard as I can and show the other players that if you work hard good things will come."

Said Chancellor, "She's literally carried us to this point by herself."

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