BATON ROUGE — Coming off a disappointing 86-81 double-overtime loss to nationally ranked Michigan, the LSU Lady Tigers return to action on Tuesday against non-conference foe Mercer at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
This is the second of four games in seven days for the Lady Tigers (4-3) after returning from a 12-day break for finals week. LSU will face Rice on Thursday and Prairie View on Saturday before a break for Christmas. Mercer (4-3) is returning to action after a 10-day layoff. In their last outing, the Bears lost to Auburn, 97-59 on the road.
“We really need a win,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter, “and we are really hungry to win. We need to bounce back from a really tough loss to Michigan. We have three games left to play this week and it would be a great Christmas present for us to take care of business and come away with three wins.”
Sophomore Temeka Johnson saw her first action as a Lady Tiger against Michigan, playing for 20 minutes. After becoming academically eligible at the conclusion of the fall semester on Saturday, Johnson came in to give the Lady Tigers seven assists, two points and two rebounds.
“We really anticipate getting Temeka some quality minutes against Mercer to try to get help her get back into playing form after not seeing action for a year and a half,” said Gunter.
The Lady Tigers have four players averaging double-figures scoring, led by freshman Scholanda Dorrell and sophomore Doneeka Hodges with 15 points a game. Junior Aiysha Smith is the only Lady Tiger to score in double-figures in all seven LSU games this season, averaging 13.9 points a game.
Junior Ke-Ke Tardy, who got her first start of the season against Michigan, and sophomore Roneeka Hodges lead LSU on the boards with 7.1 rebounds a game. Junior Kisha James leads the team with 46 assists.
Mercer has two players averaging double figures led by Tracy Henry with 11.1 points a game. She also leads the Bears with seven rebounds a game. Most of the Bears games have resulted in lopsided scores, win or lose. The average point difference is over 23 points, with only one game decided by less than 17 points. The Lady Tigers have also seen one-sided victories, winning by an average of 31 points this season.
Last season, LSU defeated Mercer, 75-47 and has never lost in four previous meetings with the Bears. In their last meeting, the Lady Tigers shot 50 percent from the field and over 41 percent from three-point range. Former Lady Tiger Marie Ferdinand led all scoring with 22 points, followed by current Lady Tigers Doneeka Hodges with 14 points and Kisha James with 12 points.