BATON ROUGE — The second-ranked LSU women’s basketball team (12-0) opens the 2003 Southeastern Conference schedule on Thursday evening at Auburn (12-1). Head coach Sue Gunter previewed the matchup after Tuesday’s practice in the PMAC.
LSU HEAD WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACH SUE GUNTER QUOTES
JAN. 7. 2003
On Auburn’s inside game
“Well when you look at (Tia) Miller and (Mandisa) Stevenson and then we talk about the horse — and that is (Le’Coe) Willingham — that we have not seen in a year or so and it is an excellent front line. Then you look at their back court and (Natasha) Brackett is about as quick as it comes and she has great quickness and is a very aggressive player. She has the ability to penetrate but also can stroke the perimeter shot as well. They just throw a lot of looks at you and I think the thing that is most impressive is their inability to board and how good they are. The other thing is when you look at that front line and when they throw that zone at you as mobile and quick as they are, it is really going to be a struggle.”
On opening conference play on the road
“I really do not know if we could go to a tougher place to have an SEC opener. Joe (Ciampi) does such a good job and it has always been such a tough place to play and they are going to be as prepared for us as we are going to be for them. It has always been a tough place to play for us and we have not had a lot of success at Auburn while I have been here. We have struggled to win games there. It is a hard opener for us and we are going to have to play extremely well in order to come away with a win. I am almost glad that we are going some place like that because if we can go in there and win then it is sensational but if we do not then we still have 13 games to make up for it. It is not all bad because I want to see where we are. In fact I used to like when we played Tennessee in our first or second game.”
“You always think about your number of road wins. If you manage to pull off two or three on the road then you have done well. If you can finish one or two over .500 on the road then you are in great shape so if you can open up on the road and win one then it is good to come back knowing you have the next two games at home regardless of who your opponents are.”
On the 12-0 start including a couple of big wins (No. 15 Texas, No. 14 Penn State) lately
“Well I think hopefully it has prepared us for what is to come. I think out of the 12 wins I think five of them are what I consider pretty good opponents. Certainly two of the last three, Texas and Penn State, are good. It should have us settled in for what we are going to face. We have not faced anybody yet who are as athletic or physical as some of the teams we are about to face or as deep as some of the teams we are about to play. We have talked about Auburn but then we have Ole Miss who is 10-2 and has some good wins. It just goes on and on. I do not know how you prepare for go through, I just think you prepare for your next game, which for us is Auburn and then prepare for who is next once that game is over. Once it is over it is over, win or lose, then you move on to the next. In the 20 years that I have been this in the SEC that is the only way you can survive. You really cannot start thinking ahead to saying we have to do this that and the other because it will bite you if you do. You cannot enjoy a win too long nor lament the fact that you lost one. You just cannot do that, you have to just get over it and then move on.”