My 2018-19 LSU women's report card: Gymnastics and some surprises
LSU’s men’s and women’s athletic programs combined have a good chance to finish in the top 15 nationally in annual Learfield IMG Directors Cup standings and third in the SEC.
A major reason that’s possible is three Tigers’ women’s sports finished the season nationally in the top three.
Gymnastics, always a threat to win the national title, finished second in the NCAA championships behind Oklahoma.
Also, the track team, bolstered by freshman Sha’Carri Richardson’s record-setting sprinting, finished third in the NCAA championships.
But the real surprise was the Tigers’ beach volleyball team ended the year ranked No. 3 after losing in the national semifinals.
Also, after barely breaking even in regular season SEC action, the LSU soccer team became the first league to win conference tournament that had to play four matches in four days.
Here’s my 2018-19 LSU women’s sports report card:
Gymnastics A plus
Another superb season for D-D Breaux, who just finished her 42nd season as coach, the longest tenured coach in any sport in SEC history. LSU’s second-place finish tied the 2016 and 2017 teams for the previous best. The team score of 197.8250 was the second highest in a final in school history and third highest at an NCAA Championship meet in school history. Also, the Tigers won the SEC title for the third straight year and fourth time in school history. It is the fifth time in SEC gymnastics history a team has won three or more consecutive league championships.
The ups: LSU finished with an overall record of 28-5, stretching is streak of 25-win seasons to seven. Also, LSU gymnasts scored seven perfect scores in 2019. The mark tied the 2004 squad for the most in a season in school history. The Tigers combined to earn 12 All-American honors at NCAA Championships and 10 WCGA Regular Season All-America honors. The combined 22 All-America honors rank third in a single season in school history. LSU was dominant in the month of March with four-straight scores of 197.900 or better. LSU joined Oklahoma as the only programs in NCAA Gymnastics history to hit that mark in four straight meets.
The downs: LSU’s home loss to Florida broke the Tigers’ 34-meet home win streak. The Tigers are 45-1 at home in that stretch since 2014.
The all-arounds: Besides Breaux being named SEC Coach of the Year for a ninth time in a season when she earned her 800th career win, senior Sarah Finnegan finished a remarkable career as one of the best athletes in LSU history. She was voted as the 2019 AAI Award winner, which is voted by the nation’s coaches and given to the best senior gymnast in the nation. Also, she was named the WCGA Central Region and SEC Gymnast of the Year for a second straight season. She became the third gymnast in the league’s illustrious history to win the top honor in consecutive seasons. She ended her career as a 23-time All-American (tying Rheagan Courville for the most in school history), had 95 individual wins in 212 career routines and won 49 individual titles in 2019 including the NCAA bars and the SEC bars, beam, floor and all-around titles to set the school record for most at a meet.
Beach Volleyball A
In just the program’s sixth season in existence, the Tigers finished ranked No. 3 nationally. Seeded No. 5 in the NCAA tournament, they advanced all the way to the NCAA semifinals where they lost to eventual national champ UCLA. LSU finished with 31 victories (31-5), the most in program history.
The ups: A program that went 6-10 in its first year and failed to win three consecutive matches reached its third straight NCAA championships and came within two wins of capturing the national title. The Tigers had a 18-8 record against ranked competition, earned wins over 10 Top 10 teams and won 24 of their last 28 matches.
The downs: The Tigers started the season 7-4 and were dominated in 4-1 losses to Florida State, UCLA and USC.
The all-arounds: LSU’s Court 1 duo on Court 1 of juniors Claire Coppola and Kristen Nuss won AVCA All-America and CCSA Pair of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. They also won their second straight USAV Collegiate Beach Championship, finishing the season 39-4. Also, Allison Coens and Kelli Agnew were named to the CCSA All-Freshmen team. Coppola and Nuss, as well as Coens and Hunter Domanski, also won the AVCA Top Flight award to recognize excellence in collegiate beach volleyball from pairs all over the country and across all flights.
Soccer A
After qualifying for the SEC tournament for the first time with a 5-4-1 record, the seventh seeded Tigers went on a stunning run to win its first-ever league tourney title and eventually advance to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. LSU was 1-1 in the NCAA tourney and finished the season nationally ranked at No. 18.
The ups: In the league tourney, LSU opened with a 3-2 double overtime win over 10th seeded Missouri, then edged second-seed Tennessee 7-6 on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, beat No. 6 seed South Carolina 1-0 in the semifinals with a goal in the 66th minute and won the title 4-1 on penalty kicks over fourth-seed Arkansas. LSU goalkeeper Caroline Brockmeier was named tourney MVP after making 19 saves and stopping three penalties.
The downs: The Tigers were 1-2-1 in the regular season vs. ranked teams.
The all-arounds: Sophomore defender Lucy Parker was named All-SEC first team, Alex Thomas and Adrienne Richardson won second team honors and Abbey Newton was named to the SEC All-freshman team.
Track and field B plus
The ups: LSU improved its fourth-place finish in the SEC outdoors championships to third in the NCAA outdoor national championships, its best finish since 2011. Twenty of LSU’s 43 points were produced by magnificent freshman Sha’Carri Richardson. She became the first woman in world history, of any age, to run sub 10.8 (10.75) in the 100 and sub 22.2 (22.17) in the 200 meters on the same day. She won the 100, finished second in the 200 and was part of LSU’s 4 by 100 second-place relay team.
The downs: The women finished tied for 15th at the NCAA indoor championships.
The all-arounds: Richardson became a one-and-done on Wednesday when she announced she was turning pro.
Softball B
The Tigers finished 43-19 No. 10 in the USA Today/NFCA poll and No. 12 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. LSU was 14-10 in the SEC, deadlocked in a three-way tie for second place two games behind league champion Alabama. LSU was swept in two games at Minnesota in a Super Regional.
The ups: The Tigers won their first six SEC series of the season, heading into the final two weeks of league play. Included was a home series win over No. 7 Florida in which LSU lost the opener 4-3 but came back the next day with an 8-0 shutout of the Gators.
The downs: In the last two SEC weekends, LSU lost 5-of-6 games, including being swept by eventual College World Series runner-up Alabama. Also, the Tigers were one-and-out in the SEC tournament.
The all-arounds: Utility player/pitcher Shelbi Sunseri and third baseman Amanda Sanchez were named to the NFCA All-American second team. Sunseri batted .340, had a team-high 60 RBI and 17 home runs, one shy of tying the LSU single-season record. As a pitcher, she was 13-10 with 2.34 ERA. She threw five shutouts and earned five saves, tying LSU’s single-season save record. Sanchez, a transfer from Missouri, finished with a .354 batting average after hitting over .500 for more than half the season.
Tennis B minus
The ups: LSU earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the sixth straight season and advanced to the second round for the third time in the past five seasons before losing to UCLA.
The downs: The Tigers started the season 12-2 with two six-win victory streaks separated by a two-match losing skid. But four consecutive losses sent LSU on 3-8 spiral to end the regular season.
The all-arounds: Sophomore Eden Richardson was named All-SEC first team after being named second-team as a freshman in 2018. It’s the fifth consecutive season the Tigers had a player earn All-SEC first team honors. Also, senior Jessica Golvin was named to the league’s second team.
Golf B minus
LSU qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015-16 and finished 10th in the East Lansing Regional.
The ups: The Tigers closed the regular season with back-to-back rounds under 290 at the Clemson Invitational. LSU’s 1-under 287 on April 7 was LSU’s first round under par as a team since the third round of the 2017 SEC championships. Also, the Tigers carded 3-over or lower in six rounds for the year, the most rounds in a season since 2014-15.
The downs: LSU finished ninth in the SEC championships, one spot short of advancing to match play for the first time.
The all-arounds: Junior Monica Dibildox was voted the 2019 Louisiana Women’s Golfer of the Year by the Louisiana Sportswriters Association. Senior Kathleen Gallagher and freshman Presley Baggett joined Dibildox on the All-Louisiana Team. Baggett was also voted the 2019 Louisiana Freshman of the Year.
Cross country C
The LSU women’s cross-country team’s eighth place in the NCAA South Central Regional matched the best finish in school history that occurred in 2012. It was the second time in school history that LSU has earned a Top 10 finish at the regional meet.
The ups: Freshman Katy Ann-McDonald of London, England saved her best race of her first collegiate for last. She finished 29th in the NCAA South Central Regional.
The downs: The Tigers finished 11th in the SEC championships.
The all-arounds: LSU didn’t have a single runner named to the All-SEC first and second teams and to the league’s All-Freshman team.
Volleyball C minus
The ups: Sophomore Taylor Bannister was named to the 18-member All-SEC team and AVCA All-South Region. She led the team in kills with a total of 456 averaging 4.04 kills per set, 4.50 points per set and a hitting percentage of .217.
The downs: LSU finished 12-17 overall and 7-11 in the SEC, tying Alabama for seventh place.
The all-arounds: Senior middle blocker Olivia Beyer and junior setter Anna Zwiebel won Google Cloud Academic All-America first team honors as voted upon by the College Sports Information Directors of America. LSU was the only school in the country to earn two All-America honors on the seven-member first team. Beyer and Zwiebel had the top two GPAs on the team coming in at 4.10 and 4.09 respectively.
Swimming and diving C minus
Some personal swimming bests and two divers stood out, but it was a non-descript season as LSU finished 10th in the SEC championships and 30th at the NCAAs.
The ups: Senior diver Lizzie Cui won silver medals in the SEC championship meet on both the one-meter and three-meter springboards with scores of 349.35 and 388.40, respectively. At the 2019 NCAA Championships, she finished in fourth place on the one-meter and seventh place on the three-meter, earning All-American honors for both events. Also, freshman Aimee Wilson won the one-meter springboard bronze medal in the SEC championships.
The downs: Not a single LSU swimmer finished in the top three in any event in the SEC championship meet finals.
The all-arounds: Cui was named to the All-SEC second team for the second time in her career after a standout season when she was named SEC Women’s Diver of the Week twice. Wilson was named All-SEC second team and All-SEC freshman team.
Basketball D
The Tigers’ 9-3 non-conference start dissipated into a 16-13 season, finishing in an eighth-place tie in the SEC with a 7-9 SEC record. LSU climbed above .500 just twice in league play.
The ups: The Lady Tigers won two straight games three times in SEC play, including their only win all season against a ranked team (No. 21 Texas A&M).
The downs: Any chance LSU had rallying to earn an NCAA tournament bid disappeared when the Lady Tigers finished the season with a four-game losing streak and a first-round SEC tournament exit.
The all-arounds: Junior forward Ayana Mitchell was All-SEC first team honoree. She led the Lady Tigers in scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double with 13.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. She had 16 double-doubles and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds in the regular season finale against Auburn. The last Lady Tiger to post four consecutive double-doubles and have 20 or more rebounds in a game was the legendary Sylvia Fowles in 2007-08.