BATON ROUGE, La. — The ninth-ranked LSU Lady Tigers open their home schedule at 7 p.m. Saturday, as they play host to Sam Houston State in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center
LSU, 1-1, began the 2000-01 season last weekend in Albuquerque, N.M., in the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic. The Lady Tigers defeated New Mexico, 54-49, before dropping a 56-45 decision to No. 5 Duke.
Saturday’s game will serve as Sam Houston’s season opener. The Bearkats were 12-15 last season, 11-7 (fourth place) in the Southland Conference.
The LSU-Sam Houston State game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by the Pelican Sports Network. The game can be seen in Baton Rouge at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday on Cox Cable Channel 11.
“We are really looking forward to playing somebody,” LSU head coach Sue Gunter said. “Our kids are really chomping at the bit to get back home and face a quality opponent like Sam Houston State. Sam Houston doesn’t receive a lot of recognition, but they are a big, solid, well-coached basketball team. This will be a very challenging game for us.”
Gunter said the Lady Tigers focused on improving their conditioning level in practice this week.
“We really worked hard this week in the conditioning area,” Gunter said. “It’s something we haven’t emphasized as much as we should have, and you could see the difference in New Mexico. Conditioning really was the difference in our ball game with Duke. We’ve had some very long, brutal practices this week, but they have been very positive.”
Despite the loss to Duke, Gunter left Albuquerque feeling good about her team’s performance.
“I really wasn’t upset with what we did, I thought our half-court defense was outstanding in both of the games,” Gunter said. “We held two very good teams to under 60 points, and that’s not bad. The problem was, we didn’t score the basketball the way we need to. And, we didn’t execute our transition defense very well, but that had to do with conditioning. So, the emphasis this week has been on conditioning, half-court offense and transition defense.”
LSU is expected to employ a three-guard starting lineup Saturday including guards Marie Ferdinand and Kisha James (1.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg). Senior April Brown (7.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and sophomore Ke-Ke Tardy (5.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) will occupy the forward spots.
The Lady Tigers’ bench features 5-9 freshman guard Doneeka Hodges (4.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and 5-11 freshman forward Roneeka Hodges (9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg).
Junior center DeTrina White, a second-team All-SEC selection last season, remains out of the lineup with a back injury. Gunter is hopeful White will return to the floor in early December.
Sam Houston features three returning starters from last season — 5-6 sophomore guard Stacy Allen (9.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg), 6-0 sophomore forward Alice Johnson (6.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and 5-10 junior forward Mandy Frazer (9.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg). Other returning players for the Bearkats include 6-0 senior center Brenda Abakwue (8.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg), 5-9 senior guard Tara Treat (6.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and 6-4 senior center Olivia Villanueva (2.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg).
SHSU head coach Erika Notzke Ritter enters her fourth season at the school with a 38-43 record.