BATON ROUGE — After their most dominating road performance in SEC play in 17 years, the Lady Tigers continue conference action as they return home to face the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers (9-6, 2-2 SEC) defeated Ole Miss on the road Thursday night, 88-57 while Arkansas (10-6, 1-3 SEC) defeated Kentucky on the road, 76-64, to pick up its first conference win. The Lady Tigers lead the overall series with Arkansas, 10-7 and have won five of the eight previous meetings in Baton Rouge. In their last meeting, the Lady Tigers defeated Arkansas, 62-58 in Baton Rouge last season.
“We are really playing well right now and we need to continue to play well to defeat a very good Arkansas team,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “Arkansas comes here playing well after beating Kentucky by 12 points on the road on Thursday. We need to continue to shoot well and play together as a team to win. Like all conference games, this is a big game for us and one that we need to win at home.”
It took sophomore Temeka Johnson only nine career collegiate games to break the LSU single game assist record that had stood for 25 years, after tying that record in just seven games. Against Ole Miss, Johnson dished out 15 assists, breaking the mark of 14 that was originally set by Brenda McGuffee against Alabama on Feb. 5, 1977 and tied by Johnson against Florida this season.
After missing the first six games of the season before becoming academically eligible, Johnson stepped into the starting line-up in just her third collegiate game after junior Kisha James went down for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Johnson took the starting job and ran with it, averaging eight assists to go along with 8.2 points and 4.1 rebounds a game.
“It is really amazing what Temeka has been able to do in just nine games for us,” said Gunter. “She is so quick and plays so hard and has really stepped up when we needed her to after Kisha got hurt. She has become a leader for this team at the point guard position.”
Sophomore Doneeka Hodges has also stepped up her game for the Lady Tigers recently. In her past three outings, she has averaged 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, including a career-high 29 points against Florida. She currently ranks second in the league in scoring in conference play and leads the league in three-pointers made in conference action.
The Lady Tigers next travel to Kentucky to take on the Lady Wildcats on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT. Kentucky lost to Arkansas in its last outing and will travel to play a surprising South Carolina team that is second in the league standings on Sunday.