BATON ROUGE — After a disappointing two-point loss to nationally ranked Texas on the road, the No. 15 Lady Tiger basketball team returns to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for a battle with No. 10 Purdue on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Lady Tigers (3-1) split a pair of meetings with the Boilermakers (4-1) last season, defeating Purdue in Indianapolis, Ind., 62-55, before falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in West Lafayette, Ind., 73-70.
“This will be a very tough game for us,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “Purdue is a strong team and comes in here with just one loss. After the loss at Texas, we will certainly not get a break on Sunday, but it will give our younger players a chance to keep competing against some of the best competition in the nation.”
In their last outing, the Lady Tigers fell by two to No. 20 Texas in Austin. Despite never leading in the game, the Lady Tigers came back from an eight-point deficit in the second half to tie the game with 1:45 remaining, but could not get over the hump and take the lead.
With 21 points against The Longhorns, freshman Scholanda Dorrell now leads the Lady Tigers with an average of 18.5 points a game. In four games, she has posted two 20-plus point scoring games and has been in double-figures every game this season.
Junior Aiysha Smith, averaging 12.5 points, and sophomore Doneeka Hodges, averaging 16 points, have also scored in double-figures in each game this season. Junior Ke-Ke Tardy leads the team with 6 rebounds a game, while junior Kisha James is averaging over eight assists a game.
In three previous meetings, LSU leads the series 2-1, but the pair has never met in Baton Rouge. Purdue enters the game after defeating Tulane in New Orleans on Thursday. The Boilermakers only loss is to No. 4 Oklahoma in their season opener.