BATON ROUGE — After going 3-0 last week to start the season, the Lady Tiger basketball team vaulted to No. 15 in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, their highest ranking of the short season, and moved into the Associated Press poll for the first time this season, entering the poll at No. 18.
“I am extremely pleased to enter the AP poll as high as No. 18,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “It?s nice to enter the AP poll after not making their Top 25 when the polls first came out. We are very appreciative of the recognition but realize that the season is still very young and we have a lot of basketball yet to play.”
After a dramatic come-from-behind 66-65 victory over No. 26 Virginia Tech, there is no rest for LSU this week as the Lady Tigers play a pair of games with national ramifications. On Thursday, LSU will face No. 20 Texas (3-0) in Austin at 7 p.m. before meeting No. 10 Purdue in the PMAC on Sunday at 2 p.m.
“Moving up in the rankings may make it more challenging when we go to Texas this week,” said Gunter. “Being ranked higher than them may give them some additional ammunition to come after us. They are a good team and proved that with some big wins last week and moving into the polls themselves. This is a big week for us and we have a challenge ahead if we want to stay in the rankings.”
The Longhorns upset then No. 23 Wisconsin and USC to win the Paradise Jam Classic last weekend and enter the Top 25 poll for the first time this season.
Purdue, the defending NCAA runners-up, split two games with LSU last season, with the Lady Tigers winning 62-55 in come-from-behind fashion early in the season before falling 73-70 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Tigers are using a balanced team effort in their victories this season. LSU has had at least three players score in double-figures in each of its three games and all five starters are averaging in double-figures, led by sophomore Doneeka Hodges with 18 points a game. Hodges, who scored a career-high 21 points against Virginia Tech, was named the www.womenscollegehoops.com Crawfish Classic Most Valuable Player.
Freshman Scholanda Dorrell, who is averaging 17.7 points per game, and junior Aiysha Smith, who is averaging almost 13 points a game on near 74 percent shooting from the field, were both all-tournament selections. Junior Kisha James entered the LSU record book with the third most assists in a single game when she dished out 11 assists against Tennessee-Martin to go along with 10 points for her first collegiate double-double. She followed that with a 10-assist performance against Virginia Tech and is averaging nine assists a game for the season.