BOULDER, Colo. — After sneaking past Santa Clara on Friday night, the sixth-seeded Lady Tiger basketball team will face third-seeded Colorado in the Coors Entertainment Center on Sunday at 10:06 p.m. CT in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
LSU (18-11) has now advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season, while Colorado (22-9) is making its second straight appearance in the round of 32.
“We are just glad to be playing again,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “We have a big task ahead of us tomorrow. We have a hard mountain to climb, so to speak, against Colorado.”
The Lady Tigers lost to Colorado in one meeting earlier this season. The Buffaloes defeated LSU, 86-65, as part of the Triple Crown Classic in Lubbock, Texas, the Lady Tigers’ worst loss of the season.
In that game, Colorado shot nearly 70-percent from the field in the second half and shot over 60-percent from the field for the game and made 11 three-pointers, including nine by Mandy Nightingale and Jenny Roulier.
Aiysha Smith led the Lady Tigers with 18 points as one of four LSU players in double figures scoring. Ke-Ke Tardy and Temeka Johnson each had 13 points and Doneeka Hodges had 11 points.
“Colorado is an outstanding team and comes from a great league,” said Gunter. “They remind me of Vanderbilt and Tennessee out of the SEC. They have great size inside, but can also beat you with their outside shooting. They just took it to us when we played in Lubbock earlier this year.”
Against Santa Clara, LSU was led by sophomore Doneeka Hodges with 22 points, her eight 20-plus scoring output of the season. Junior Aiysha Smith recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
If LSU were to win, the Lady Tigers would advance to the Sweet 16 and face the winner of Stanford-Colorado State game in Boise, Idaho next weekend.