NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Lady Tiger basketball team travels to Nashville to face No. 6 Vanderbilt on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Tigers (13-8, 6-4 SEC) are coming off a disappointing loss to Arkansas on the road, while Vanderbilt (21-5, 7-3 SEC) soundly defeated No. 25 Mississippi State in its last game. The Valentine’s Day game will be televised on FoxSports, Cox Cable Channel 27 in Baton Rouge.
“When you get this late into the season, every game is important,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “We need to win at least two more conference games for us to feel secure in a spot in the NCAA tournament and that needs to start now. It will be a real test for us on the road since Vanderbilt has lost only once at home this season.”
LSU and Vanderbilt have met already this season, on Jan. 27 in Baton Rouge for the sixth annual Pack the PMAC game. In front of the second-largest crowd in LSU women’s basketball history — 8,153 fans — the Lady Tigers struggled to match up with a much taller and deeper Vanderbilt team and fell 64-53.
On 24-of-35 shooting, Chantelle Anderson and Zuzi Klimesova scored 28 and 24, respectively, to nearly outscore LSU by themselves. The Lady Tigers were led by junior Aiysha Smith, who scored 16. Sophomore Temeka Johnson had 11 and junior Ke-Ke Tardy added 12.
Other than Vanderbilt’s duo in the post, no Commodore scored more than four points nor attempted more than five shots. Vanderbilt attempted only two free throws, making both. However, LSU missed 8-of-11 free throws attempted.
Smith leads the Lady Tiger offense this season, averaging 15.8 points a game and has scored in double-figures in every game this season. She is also averaging a team-high 7.6 rebounds a game. In conference play, her averages increase to 17.1 points a game and 9.0 rebounds a game.
Johnson leads the team in assists and set the single-game assist record earlier this season. Despite playing in just 15 games, she ranks sixth in single-season assists by a sophomore in school history with 117 and would rank fourth nationally if she had played in the required number of games to figure into national statistics.
LSU returns home to face nationally ranked South Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m.