BATON ROUGE — Coming off a 72-62 upset of No. 9 South Carolina, the Lady Tiger basketball team will close out the home schedule against Mississippi State on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Lady Tigers (14-9, 7-5 SEC) are in a three-way tie with Mississippi State (17-9, 7-5 SEC) and Florida for fourth place in the SEC standings with just two games remaining in regular season competition. The SEC Tournament begins next Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.
“We had a big win against South Carolina on Sunday and we need to keep that momentum going against Mississippi State on Thursday,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “This is a big game for us. It is our last home game and Mississippi State is a very good team. They have been very impressive at times this season and nearly upset Tennessee last week. We will need to stay focused and play very hard to defeat them.”
Junior Aiysha Smith, the current SEC and LSWA Player of the Week, leads the Lady Tigers in scoring and rebounding with 16.2 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. Sophomore Temeka Johnson leads the SEC in assists in league play with 8.4 assists per game.
Mississippi State is led by Naismith Award candidate LaToya Thomas. The junior is averaging 24 points and 9.4 rebounds a game for the Lady Bulldogs. Freshman Tan White has also been impressive for Mississippi State this season, averaging 19 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.
LSU has dominated the series, which dates back to 1977. The Lady Tigers are 30-4 all-time against Mississippi State and have won the last 10 straight. Last season, LSU defeated Mississippi State, 78-54 in Baton Rouge.
The Lady Tigers will close out the 2001-02 season at Alabama on Sunday at 2 p.m.