BOULDER, Colo. — The sixth-seeded Lady Tiger basketball team opens play in the NCAA Tournament against No. 11-seeded Santa Clara on Friday at 10:36 p.m. CT at the Coors Entertainment Center on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo.
The game will be televised on ESPN2, Baton Rouge cable channel 36 and can be heard on the LSU Sports Network on 107.3 FM or on www.LSUsports.net.
LSU is making its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fifth appearance in the last six years. The Lady Tigers have now advanced to postseason play for seven consecutive years with two Women’s National Invitational Tournament appearances included during that span.
“We are just delighted to still be playing at this time of year,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “This is why we play the rest of the season. We are no different from the other three teams in this regional in that we want to win.”
This will be the first meeting between the Lady Tigers (17-11) and the Broncos (21-9), who were the runner-ups to Pepperdine during the regular season and West Coast Conference Tournament.
“We have to face a very good Santa Clara team in the first round,” said Gunter. “With all the challenges that we have faced this season, we know that we can not overlook any opponent, and we are not going to overlook Santa Clara. We know that we have to contest their three-point shooting and stop their transition game in order to be successful.”
Three of LSU’s seven players enter postseason play with NCAA Tournament experience. Junior Ke-Ke Tardy was a member of the Lady Tigers’ Elite Eight team in 2000 and she and sophomores Doneeka Hodges and Roneeka Hodges were members
of LSU’s team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
All-American Temeka Johnson has been the spark for the Lady Tigers during their late season run. The sophomore from New Orleans averaged 17.7 points, 6.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds as LSU advanced to the championship game of the SEC Tournament for the first time since 1991.
Junior Aiysha Smith leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.9 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. The first-team All-SEC selection has recorded eight double-doubles this season and had a streak of 27 consecutive games with double-figures scoring broken in the championship game of the SEC Tournament, the fourth longest streak in LSU history.
If LSU were to defeat Santa Clara in the first round, they would play the winner of the Colorado/Southern game on Sunday at 10:06 p.m. CT. The game will also be televised on ESPN2.