BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU women’s basketball team plays its sixth road game in nine starts Saturday when the No. 16 Lady Tigers face sixth-ranked Purdue in Indianapolis. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. CST at Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.
The LSU-Purdue game can be heard in Baton Rouge on WTGE 107.3 FM and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. The contest is the first half of a doubleheader at Conseco Fieldhouse, as the Purdue men will meet Valparaiso after the women’s game.
LSU (5-3), has won three straight games, including a 75-47 victory over Mercer Tuesday. Purdue (8-2) hasn’t played since an 72-61 loss at No. 4 Notre Dame last Saturday.
The Boilermakers are the fourth Top 25 team LSU has faced this season. The Lady Tigers have also played No. 5 Duke, No. 9 Penn State and No. 18 Southwest Missouri State.
“There are a lot of people who feel like Purdue is a Final Four team this year,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “They are a big, strong, experienced team, and they had one of the best recruiting classes in the country last year. We’re looking forward to this trip, our players are excited about playing in an NBA arena in front of a big crowd against a very good team.”
The Boilermakers are led by all-America forward Katie Douglas, a 6-1 senior who averages 16.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Douglas is complemented by all-Big Ten center Camille Cooper, a 6-4 senior who averages 14.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest.
Douglas and Cooper as sophomores helped lead Purdue to the 1999 national championship.
“Douglas is one of the best players in the country,” Gunter said. “She was a very integral part of their national championship team two years ago. She is just one of the best ‘go-to’ players in the country.”
Along with Douglas and Cooper, Purdue is expected to start 6-1 senior Candi Crawford (4.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg) at forward, with 5-7 junior Kelly Komara (9.2 ppg, 2.4 apg) and 5-6 freshman Erika Valek (5.9 ppg, 2.4 apg) at the guards.
LSU will counter with 5-9 senior Marie Ferdinand (22.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 5-7 sophomore Kisha James (9.6 ppg, 2.9 apg) and 5-11 senior Angelia Crockett (2.0 ppg, 3.3 apg) at the guards. DeTrina White, a 5-11 junior and Roneeka Hodges (11.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg) will occupy the forward position.
Forward April Brown, a 5-11 senior (10.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg) who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Nov. 30, may see limited action. If Brown is able to play, it will mark the first time this season LSU has had its entire 10-member squad in uniform.
“It’s going to take all we’ve got,” Gunter said, “but we are getting a little bit stronger. Our guard play is as good as anybody’s in the country. Now that we’ve got DeTrina back and she’s getting stronger, and if we can get April back in there, we’re going to be OK. We’re still not going to be at full strength Saturday afternoon, but we’re in better shape than we were a week ago.
“Hopefully, regardless of the outcome, we’ll gain something from it down the road. That was the rationale for playing this type of schedule to begin with. And really, things are looking a little bit better as we continue to get healthy. We’re regaining some of the things we thought we would have when we made this schedule.”
Saturday’s game marks just the second meeting between the two schools. LSU defeated Purdue, 54-53, at West Lafayette, Ind., in the first round of the 1989 NCAA Tournament.