Nobody said it was going to be easy.

But the No. 9 seeded Arizona women's basketball team did not even come close as it suffered a season-ending 76-43 loss at the hands of No. 1 seed Louisiana State University in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., last night.

The Wildcats (20-12) found themselves in an early hole as the Tigers (31-2) scored 11 points while Arizona missed its first seven shots and committed turnovers in three of its first five possessions.

Arizona first got on the board with a jumper by sophomore forward-center Shannon Hobson at 15:29, 11-2. Senior point guard Dee-Dee Wheeler hit a pair of free throws to cut the LSU lead to nine points, 15-9. Wheeler was held out for parts of the first half after committing two early fouls.

Throughout the half, Arizona was unable to get good looks and contain SEC Player of the Year and LSU guard Seimone Augustus. The junior finished the night with 18 points.

Freshman guard Jessica Arnold hit a jumper with 3:31 remaining in the half to make it a 34-18 game. The Wildcats headed into the locker room down 44-19 - the Arizona's lowest first-half total of the season. Arizona's offensive troubles continued in the second half as the Tigers held the Wildcats scoreless for more than four minutes and LSU added eight points, 52-21.

Wheeler drained Arizona's only trey in the game at 11:36, 60-26. The Wildcats finished the game 1-for-11 from 3-point range. The senior captain completed her final game as a Wildcat with a team-high 13 points, four rebounds and three steals.

Arizona was unable to produce any runs down the stretch as LSU would lead by as many as 40 points and went on to win by 33 points.

Junior center Shawntinice Polk added 10 points and five boards, while Arnold tallied eight points. Senior forward Danielle Adefeso recorded seven points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Polk and Adefeso each added two blocked shots.

LSU's Temeka Johnson and Scholanda Hoston added 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Tigers shot 43 percent from the field and held the Wildcats to a season-low 26 percent. LSU brought down 48 rebounds and committed 14 turnovers compared to Arizona's 45 and 21, respectively.