BATON ROUGE — LSU’s 22nd-ranked women’s basketball team will play its third game in five days on Tuesday as the Lady Tigers play host to undefeated UL-Lafayette at 7 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be broadcast by the LSU Sports Network and can be heard in the Baton Rouge area on 107.3 FM. The contest can also be heard on the Internet at www.LSUSports.net.
The Lady Tigers enter the contest riding a three-game winning streak after picking up a couple of wins last weekend at the Walnut Creek Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic in Moraga, Calif. In that tournament, LSU beat St. Bonaventure 80-43 in the first round and then followed that with a 68-65 overtime win over host St. Mary’s in the title game. LSU is 3-1 overall.
UL-Lafayette is off to its best start since 1988 as the Lady Cajuns enters Tuesday’s contest with the Lady Tigers with a 2-0 mark. UL-Lafayette opened the season with a win over Houston and the Lady Cajuns beat Navy, 72-57, on Sunday.
LSU leads the overall series with the Lady Cajuns 17-0, which includes an 84-38 win over UL-Lafayette last year in Lafayette.
“They have a good and competitive basketball team and they are going to bring it to us,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said. “They are going to come in here well-prepared and they’ll approach the game as if they have nothing to lose. The thing that we have to guard against is overlooking them.
“We are coming off a big win on Saturday and then we open conference play on Thursday, but we have to be ready to play on Tuesday. I would be very surprised if we overlook them because one of the reasons we were so successful last year is that we took it one game at a time and that’s what I expect on Tuesday.”
The Lady Tigers got some additional help in the backcourt over the weekend as junior point guard Angelia Crockett returned to action after sitting out the last three weeks with a stress fracture in her left foot. Crockett came off the bench against St. Mary’s and scored two points and had one assist in 16 minutes of action. Prior to Crockett’s return, LSU had played its first three games without a true point guard on the floor.
“I really felt that Angelia was the difference in the St. Mary’s game,” Gunter said. “With her being in the game, it allowed Marie (Ferdinand) and Katrina (Hibbert) to go back to their normal positions. Angelia helps us so much with her ball-handling.”
The Lady Tigers, who are expected to start the same lineup for the fourth straight game, are led by Ferdinand, a 5-9 junior guard, and Hibbert, a 5-11 senior guard/forward. Ferdinand leads the Lady Tigers with 18.0 points a contest, while Hibbert is averaging 10.5 points and a league-best 9.0 assists a game.
Ferdinand is coming off a weekend that saw her earn MVP honors at the Walnut Creek Holiday Inn Thanksgiving Classic as she averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 6.0 steals in the Lady Tigers two wins in Moraga, Calif.
Other starters for LSU include 5-11 junior forward April Brown (12.0 points, 3.8 rebounds), 6-2 senior forward Candice Porter (2.5, 2.8), and 5-11 sophomore center DeTrina White (11.0, 8.0). Ke-Ke Tardy, a 6-1 freshman forward, is averaging 9.2 points off the bench for the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Cajuns are paced by 5-11 junior forward Billie Popovska (18.0, 7.5) and 6-0 sophomore forward Kim Chance (18.0, 7.0).
“(ULL coach) Gay Nix has always been what I consider a great coach,” Gunter said. “She’s a great motivator and it’s just taking her some time to get it together.
“(Billie) Popovska is an outstanding player and the point guard (Dekita Williams) is very good. She makes them go.”
The UL-Lafayette contest will serve as LSU’s final tuneup before opening Southeastern Conference play on Thursday at fourth-ranked Georgia.