BATON ROUGE — The LSU Lady Tiger basketball team edges closer to the season opener next week against Grambling with their final preseason tune-up. The Lady Tigers will host the Australian Institute of Sport, a member of the Basketball Travelers, on Monday afternoon in their final exhibition game at 4:30 p.m. in the first game of a basketball doubleheader in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
In their first exhibition game of the season, the Lady Tigers used a 91-17 run over the final 30 minutes of play to run away with a 108-33 victory over the Jackson All-Stars. The Basketball Travelers have made the rounds through the southern United States over the last few weeks, defeating Ole Miss and Southeastern Louisiana while falling to Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech along the way.
“This game should be a truer test of where our program is,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “This Australian team is very good and has done well so far on their tour. The outcome of the game is not of great importance to us, we just want to play against good competition and this team should be a stern test for us.”
The Lady Tigers will have to do without freshman Wendlyn Jones who went down with an apparent ACL injury in practice on Saturday and is likely out for the season. Jones started against the Jackson All-Stars and recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in just 31 minutes of action.
Also out for the game is senior All-American candidate DeTrina White, who was diagnosed with a slight stress fracture in her foot last week. She missed the exhibition game last week and her condition will be reevaluated on Wednesday.
“We continue to be down player personnel wise,” said Gunter. “We apparently lost Wendlyn Jones for the season with an ACL injury on Saturday and will be without DeTrina White again with a stress fracture in her foot. Getting production from all of our players will be key when we are playing with a limited roster.”
Returning to action on Monday will be junior Ke-Ke Tardy and sophomore Roneeka Hodges. Tardy did not dress out for the first game for disciplinary reasons (violation of team rules). Hodges did not play due to injury, but should see a few minutes of action against Australia.
The women’s game is the first of an LSU basketball doubleheader on Monday. The Lady Tigers’ exhibition game will be followed by a men’s exhibition game against the Czech team at 7 p.m., the first of four basketball doubleheaders this season.