By Joey Papania
LSUsports.net
MORAGA, Calif. — After splitting the first two games of the season, the LSU Lady Tiger basketball team heads to Moraga, Calif., after a record-setting game against UNC-Asheville on Tuesday night. LSU set two team records, tied another and saw six Lady Tigers score in double-figures against the Bulldogs.
The Tigers will look to carry that momentum into Friday night’s game with St. Bonaventure in the opening round of the Walnut Creek Holiday Inn Tournament hosted by St. Mary’s.
Head coach Sue Gunter was looking for some consistency at the point guard position after the loss of sophomore Kisha James to a torn ACL.
The backcourt got a major boost Tuesday, setting a school-record 38 assists while getting a career-high 13 assists from senior Katrina Hibbert.
Ironically, the LSU record for single game assists is 14 held by Brenda McGuffie Loe, Hibbert’s high school coach at Denham Springs.
“We’ve got a very balanced basketball team and people have got to pick up the slack,” said Gunter. “They’ve done a good job of doing that so far.”
Junior guard Marie Ferdinand continues to be a major source of the Tigers’ offense and is becoming more comfortable at the point guard position. LSU has learned that point guard Angela Crockett has been cleared of her injury and could see action this weekend. Crockett suffered a stress fracture to her left foot in pre-season. Crockett’s return will allow Hibbert to move back to the three and Ferdinand back to the two guard.
In the Lady Tigers’ season-opening loss to Texas Tech, they shot themselves in the foot with 22 turnovers. LSU was able to improve their play on Tuesday night, managing only six turnovers to tie a school record.
“We needed something positive to happen to our basketball team, and I think it did (against NC-Asheville),” coach Gunter said of Tuesday’s game. “It was an opportunity to let a lot of people who are going to have to help us down the road get some work.”
Three of those players include freshmen Ke-Ke Tardy, Jamie Hawkins, and Kaisha Lymon who provided quality minutes off the bench. Tardy led the game in scoring with 19 points and had four assists after getting into foul trouble in the Lady Tigers first outing. Hawkins went 4-of-4 from the filed and 2-3 from the free-throw line in only 11 minutes of play. Lymon used her size and strength to lead LSU with 10 rebounds.
More importantly, however, Tuesday night’s victory was a complete reversal of fortune and proved a point to the Lady Tigers. When they distribute the ball and make sound decisions passing the ball, everyone can get involved offensively.
Should the Lady Tigers defeat St. Bonaventure on Friday evening, a potential showdown with tournament host St. Mary’s looms in the distance.
St. Mary’s is an up-and-coming, well-coached team that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago and ironically ended up in the Baton Rouge regional where they took a tough Notre Dame team down to the wire.
While a 55-point victory like Tuesday night’s is not realistic in either match-up, the Lady Tigers will need to play the same type of disciplined basketball in California this weekend if they are to come away with a pair of wins. If they can continue to distribute the ball well, get everyone involved and avoid costly turnovers, the Lady Tigers could very well be 3-1 when they return to Baton Rouge next Monday to host the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.