ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands — The LSU women’s basketball will looks to give head coach Sue Gunter her 350th win at LSU Friday evening, when the 10th ranked Lady Tigers take on No. 16 Southwest Missouri in the first round of the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands at 6:30 p.m. CT.
LSU enters with a 2-1 record after trouncing Sam Houston State by 40 points last Saturday evening. The victory was costly, however, as starters Angelia Crockett and Ke-Ke Tardy were ejected after an altercation and must sit out the Southwest Missouri State game.
As a result, Gunter enters Friday’s showdown with only seven players dressing, only five of which are scholarship players. The Lady Tigers worked out for 90 minutes on Friday, giving
“It’s going to be a challenge, no question,” said Gunter, who has 615 wins overall in her career. “To say we’re shorthanded is putting it mildly. Southwest Missouri is a very experienced team, a very aggressive team and they’ll push the ball all day long which will test our depth. We need to come out mentally prepared and this is the time of the year when you have an opportunity to overcome a little adversity.”
As a result of the absence of Crockett and Tardy, Gunter will likely use a pair of first-time starters, as newcomers and twin sisters Roneeka and Doneeka Hodge are expected to start on Friday.
The Lady Tigers will have to rely heavily on the trio of Marie Ferdinand, April Brown and Kisha James to compensate for a lack of a depth. Ferdinand leads the Lady Tigers in both scoring and rebounding through three games at 21.7 points per game and 7.0 boards per match.
“We’re definitely short some people, but we still can’t be taken lightly by any means,” added Gunter. “We’re a very athletic team, we’re no cake walk ourselves.”
LSU will have its hands full defensively on Friday, as Southwest Missouri (2-0) boasts high scoring Jackie Stiles, the NCAA’s leading scorer each of the past two seasons. Stiles opened the season with a 33-point outburst in the Lady Bear’s victory over Arkansas-Little Rock.
“Southwest Missouri is a very explosive team offensively and that obviously starts with Stiles,” said Gunter. “But more than that, they are a tough match up because they get to the line a great deal and go hard to the basket. We have to stay out of foul trouble. I think defensively they are also very underrated because of how good they are offensively, they’re a very good defensive team as well.”
Friday’s meeting will be the first ever between the two schools.
In the other match-up of the Paradise Jam, Texas Tech and Penn State will square off prior to the LSU-Southwest Missouri State game. The winners of each of the two games will meet in the championship game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT, while the two losers will meet in the consolation match at 4 p.m. CT.