BATON ROUGE — Sue Gunter will look to put her name alongside only three other coaches in women’s basketball history as the LSU head coach will go after her 600th career win on Thursday when the 17th-ranked Lady Tigers travel to face Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.
Tipoff for the contest is set for 7 p.m. and it can be heard world-wide on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. It can also be heard in the Baton Rouge area on 107.3 FM.
LSU is coming off a 61-54 win over 20th-ranked Mississippi State on Sunday and the Lady Tigers stand at 11-3 overall and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play. Arkansas led Tennessee by 13 points at halftime on Monday in Knoxville only to lose 79-69, in what was the Lady’Backs’ conference opener. Arkansas is 9-4 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Gunter enters the contest with a 36-year coaching mark of 599-269, which ranks her as the fourth-winningest coach in women’s basketball history. By winning her 600th game, Gunter would join Jody Conradt of Texas, Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Vivian Stringer of Rutgers as the only coaches to win 600 games.
“To be honest, it (the 600th win) is something that I really don’t think about,” Gunter said. “It’s something that will take care of itself. It has not been on my mind for one minute or 30 seconds since the season started. I’m not minimizing it at all, but when it comes, it comes.
“It’s great and it speaks well for the people that played for me over this period of time. The statement that is made by 600 wins is perhaps my ability to persevere. But right now my whole focus and my attention is on Arkansas and after that it will be on Kentucky. I know its going to happen before this year is over and hopefully it’s on Thursday at Arkansas.”
If LSU is to be successful against the Lady’Backs, the Lady Tigers will have to play much like they did against Mississippi State on Sunday. In that game, LSU’s defense held State to a season-low 54 points, 35 below its average. LSU turned the ball over just 15 times against the Lady Bulldogs.
“We have to be able handle their pressure and we have to do a good job defending,” Gunter said. “We must execute on the offensive end as well. That’s a hard place for us to play. We have not had a lot of success up there so we must get off to a good start.”
DeTrina White, who is averaging 12.1 points and 9.1 rebounds a game, led the Lady Tigers with a season-best 21 points and 10 rebounds for her third straight double-double. White leads the SEC in rebounds (9.1) and double-doubles (5).
“I think DeTrina was the catalyst we needed against Mississippi State,” Gunter said. “She brought a different level of energy to us. She brought a lot of hustle plays to the team and that’s what we’ve been getting beat at. Her play was contagious.”
Joining White in the starting lineup for the Lady Tigers will be 5-9 junior guard Marie Ferdinand (17.6 points, 4.2 rebounds), 5-11 junior point guard Angelia Crockett (3.9 points, 3.8 assists), 5-11 senior guard/forward Katrina Hibbert (13.6 points, 7.2 assists) and 5-11 junior forward April Brown (11.4 points, 4.9 rebounds).
Hibbert leads the SEC in assists and steals (3.4 per game), while Ferdinand ranks second in the league in scoring, assists and steals (3.3). Arkansas is paced by 5-8 junior guard Wendi Willits, who is averaging 16.0 points and 3.2 rebounds a game.
“We’re approaching this game the same way we approached the Tennessee and Mississippi State games and that we have to win one of the our next two, Gunter said. “We need to go in with a very aggressive attitude and we must play hard. They have a good team and they’re always tough to beat up there.”
After the Arkansas game, the Lady Tigers won’t return to action until next Thursday when they travel to face Kentucky in Lexington in a game televised live by Fox Sports.
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