BATON ROUGE — LSU’s ninth-ranked women’s basketball team can clinch third place in the Southeastern Conference on Thursday as the Lady Tigers play host to Florida at 7 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by College Sports-Southeast. The game will be aired immediately following the contest at 9 p.m. on cable channel 11 or 18 in the Baton Rouge area. The game will also be broadcast by the LSU Sports Network and it can be heard locally on 107.3 FM as well as the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU enters the contest with a 20-5 overall mark and a 9-3 SEC record. The nine SEC wins are one shy of tying the school record of 10 set last year. One more SEC win will assure the Lady Tigers of at least a third place finish in the SEC. LSU is 13-1 at home this year and the Lady Tigers have only lost four of their last 59 home games dating back to the 1996-97 season.
Florida enters the contest with a 15-10 overall mark and a 5-7 league record. The Lady Gators must win its last two SEC games to have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament. Last year, LSU posted an 80-71 win over Florida in Gainesville to take a 12-7 advantage in the series.
“Florida is a very dangerous team,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said. “They have great speed and quickness and they are very athletic.
“Their back is against the wall. They have to be thinking that if they can come in here and get a win, then it would improve their chances of making the NCAA Tournament. What we have to do is understand what we’re playing for and that’s a seed at the NCAA Tournament. We want to be a No. 2 or No. 3 seed. That’s what’s at stake for us.”
The Lady Tigers enter the contest coming off perhaps its worst game of the season, an 80-48 loss to second-ranked Tennessee on Sunday. In that game, LSU shot a season-low 35 percent, while turning the ball over a season-high 27 times. The 48 points also marked a season-low.
One bright spot for the Lady Tigers against Tennessee was the play of 5-foot-11 sophomore center DeTrina White, who hauled in 14 rebounds to go with nine points. White currently leads the SEC in rebounds (9.3), field goal percentage (61.8 pct.) and double-doubles (9). White is third on the LSU squad with 11.9 points a contest.
Joining White in the Lady Tiger lineup will be 5-9 junior guard Marie Ferdinand (17.7 points. 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists), 5-11 junior guard Angelia Crockett (4.1 points, 4.2 assists), 5-11 senior forward Katrina Hibbert (14.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists) and 5-11 junior forward April Brown (10.9 points, 4.5 rebounds).
Hibbert, Ferdinand, Brown and White enter the Florida contest having started 55 straight games for the Lady Tigers.
Florida has two of the top scorers in the SEC in 5-10 senior guard Tiffany Travis (17.3 points, 4.4 rebounds) and 6-0 senior forward Tonya Washington (17.1 points, 7.2 rebounds).
Rounding out the Florida lineup are 5-5 junior guard Tombi Bell (6.5 points, 5.6 assists), 6-2 sophomore forward Naomi Mobley (10.6 points, 8.4 rebounds) and 6-3 junior center Tamara Stocks (9.5 points, 5.2 rebounds).
After Thursday’s game against Florida, the Lady Tigers close out their regular-season at home on Sunday against South Carolina. Sunday’s game will mark the final home game of Katrina Hibbert, the sixth leading scorer in school history with 1,601 points. Hibbert is one of only three players in school history to accumulate 1,500 points, 400 assists and 200 steals in a career.