MORAGA, Calif. — LSU’s 22nd-ranked women’s basketball team returns to action on Friday as the Lady Tigers face St. Bonaventure in the first round of the Walnut Creek Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Tournament here at St. Mary’s College.
Tipoff for the contest is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and the game can be heard in the Baton Rouge area on 107.3 FM. Host St. Mary’s and UNC-Greensboro will play the nightcap. The two winners will meet in the championship game at 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, while the consolation game will be at 7:30 p.m. CT.
LSU enters the contest with a 1-1 mark after Tuesday’s 91-36 win over UNC-Asheville in Baton Rouge. In that game, the Lady Tigers set the school-record for assists in a game with 38 and for fewest fouls in a contest with just four. LSU also tied a school-record with only six turnovers. The 55-point margin of victory marked the fourth-largest win in school history.
St. Bonaventure enters the game with an 0-2 mark as the Bonnies have dropped games to Canisius by a 92-73 count and Bowling Green by an 88-69 margin.
Friday’s contest will be just the second meeting between the Lady Tigers and the Bonnies as St.Bonaventure posted an 88-73 win over LSU at the Portland Shootout on Jan. 1, 1995.
“This is another opportunity for us to get better and to improve under the situation that we are currently playing with,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said. “All four teams in the tournament are quality opponents and that’s what I’m excited about because these next two games are going to help us get prepared for our SEC opener against Georgia next week.
“St. Bonaventure is a quality opponent. They are a disciplined team and they always work hard and we’re going to have to come out ready to play if we are going to be successful against them.”
Against the Bonnies, the Lady Tigers will be without a true point guard for the third straight game as backup Angelia Crockett is still out with a stress fracture in her left foot. Crockett has been cleared by doctors, but she may not play until next week. LSU lost starting point guard Kisha James for the season on Nov. 14 when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.
In James and Crockett’s absence, 5-foot-9 junior guard Marie Ferdinand and 5-11 senior guard/forward Katrina Hibbert have shared the point guard responsibilities. Against UNC-Asheville, Hibbert set a career-high with 13 assists, one shy of tying the school record.
Through two games, the Ferdinand and Hibbert duo are combining to average 28.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 16.5 assists a contest.
Individually, Ferdinand is tops on the squad with 17.5 points a game, while Hibbert is averaging 11.0 points and an SEC-leading 9.5 assists per game.
“Katrina and Marie has done everything we can possibly ask them to do,” Gunter said. “They have been outstanding and their games are only going to get better when we get a point guard on the floor and we can move them back to their natural positions.”
Joining Hibbert and Ferdinand in the starting lineup for the Lady Tigers will be 6-1 senior forward Candice Porter (2.5 points, 2.0 rebounds), 5-11 junior forward April Brown (9.0, 5.5) and 5-11sophomore DeTrina White (10.5, 7.5). Off the bench, the Lady Tigers have 6-1 freshman forward Ke-Ke Tardy (10.5, 1.0) and 6-3 freshman center Jamie Hawkins (10.0, 4.0).
St. Bonaventure is led by 5-10 junior guard Shannon O’Connell (14.0, 2.5) and 5-11 junior forward Melissa Fazio (14.5, 5.5).