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LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CLOSES THREE-GAME ROAD TRIP AT MISSISSIPPI STATE
STARKVILLE,
Miss. – Two of the Southeastern Conference’s elite defenses meet at 7
p.m. Thursday as the LSU women’s basketball team seeks its eighth
straight victory and concludes a three-game road trip at Mississippi
State in Humphrey Coliseum.
The contest will be carried live
on the LSU Sports Radio Network on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and to
members of the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net/live. The game will not
be televised.
LSU (10-3, 1-0 SEC) brings in the SEC’s longest
win streak at seven games and it’s the Lady Tigers longest streak since
winning the first nine games of the 2009 season. LSU is coming off one
of its most efficient offensive displays in recent memory in an 83-44
blowout of Ole Miss on New Year’s Day in Oxford.
The Lady
Tigers dished out 26 assists and rank second in the SEC in assists per
game with 17.1. Unselfish offensive play and suffocating defense has
been the formula for success for Nikki Caldwell’s LSU team during the
win streak.
“We have progressed through our leadership,” said
Caldwell. “It’s very contagious when you have unselfish play. It takes
a lot for a player to give up shots. It makes you feel good when you
give up the basketball to another player for an open look. We have
worked extremely hard at that in practice and now it’s showing in a
game.”
No one has been better in the league in field goal
percentage defense than the two teams that will meet in Starkville on
Thursday night. LSU leads the SEC and ranks fourth in the nation in
holding opponents to 30.9 percent from the floor. Mississippi State
(10-3, 0-0) comes in at second in the SEC, allowing only 33.7 percent
shooting.
The Lady Bulldogs are beginning conference play
after being idle on New Year’s Day. Mississippi State hasn’t played
since a 67-63 win over Nevada at the Reno-Tahoe Classic on Dec. 30. LSU
will have to shutdown the SEC’s top scorer as senior guard Diamber
Johnson is producing a league-best 18.3 points per game.
“Their
guard play is strong,” said Caldwell. “We are going to have to be
committed to our defensive philosophy on the perimeter game in making
sure we are not giving up easy baskets. They are also a very good
defensive team. We have to make sure that we are taking care of the
basketball and not forcing things.”
LSU’s LaSondra
Barrett has raised her scoring average to 11.7 points per game
following her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 13
rebounds at Ole Miss. Sophomore guard Jeanne Kenney leads LSU in
assists and ranks eighth in the SEC with 3.9 per contest.
LSU
has dominated the series with Mississippi State, 41-6 and the Lady
Tigers have more wins over the Lady Bulldogs than any other SEC
opponent they face. LSU has won the last three in the series, including
a 72-55 victory in the only meeting between the two teams last year in
Starkville. Adrienne Webb had 26 in the win, burying 10-of-20 from the
floor.
Following Thursday’s game, LSU returns to Baton Rouge for its SEC home opener against Alabama .
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