AUBURN, Ala. — LSU’s second-ranked Lady Tigers basketball team begins its “second season” when they visit Auburn to open the Southeastern Conference schedule on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
LSU (12-0, 0-0 SEC) is coming off a victory over No. 15 Penn State on Saturday. Aiysha Smith led the way with 22 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Tigers led the entire game and won 80-63.
Auburn (12-1, 0-0 SEC) is coming off a thrilling overtime victory against Tulane on Sunday and won the first 11 games of the season before falling to Illinois just over a week ago.
“I don’t know if we could go to a tougher place to have an SEC opener,” LSU head coach Sue Gunter said. “Joe Ciampi does such a good job and it has always been such a tough place to play. They are going to be as prepared for us as we are going to be for them.”
Auburn leads the overall series against LSU, winning 25 of the 32 meetings, but the Lady Tigers have won three of the last four meetings. LSU defeated Auburn 76-62 in Baton Rouge last season. Auburn also leads 11-2 in games played in Auburn, but LSU won the last time they played in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, 54-52, in 2000.
Freshman Seimone Augustus leads LSU into the conference season. The 6-1 Baton Rouge native is scoring 13.9 points per game and shooting 64 percent from the floor. Smith, who has scored in double figures in three straight games, is not far behind, averaging 12.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing.
DeTrina White leads the Lady Tigers on the boards, pulling down 8.4 per game.
Sophomore guard Natasha Brackett leads Auburn. She is posting 15.2 points per game, while Le’Coe Willingham is scoring 9.0 points and grabbing 6.6 rebounds per contest.
Following Thursday’s game, LSU will return home to host Ole Miss on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.