BATON ROUGE — Sunday’s 4 p.m. tip off between the fourth-ranked LSU Lady Tigers and the third-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols could be one of the biggest women’s games in Pete Maravich Assembly Center history.
LSU enters the game with a 23-1 overall record and 10-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Tennessee is 23-3 overall and 11-0 in the SEC. The winner of the game will be in first-place in the conference with two games remaining on the schedule. A top seed for the SEC Tournament could be at stake on Sunday afternoon.
Tickets still remain for the game and can be obtained by contacting the LSU ticket office at (225) 578-2184 or by going online at www.LSUsports.net.
Tickets can also be purchased on the day of the game at the PMAC and fans are encouraged to arrive early to obtain game-day tickets.
With a large turnout expected and a LSU baseball game at 1 p.m. on Sunday, plenty of parking for the PMAC can be found North of the coliseum by the tennis courts, the lot at Bernie Moore Track and in the lots South of Tiger Stadium.
QUOTING LSU HEAD COACH SUE GUNTER — Feb. 21, 2003
On the magnitude of the Tennessee game
“It is probably one of the most highly anticipated games and probably the rewards of this game are as high as it has ever been. To say it is the biggest game ever, I do not know because there have probably playoff games. I guess though if you look down the road then probably.”
On how LSU matches up with Tennessee
“I think a key to their team in addition to Gwen Jackson is Kara Lawson. She has had an absolutely unbelievable year and she is the heart and soul of the team. I think the thing you see about this particular Tennessee team is how well they are playing together. She (head coach Pat Summit) is using a lot of people much like we do and the blend is very, very good. Transition-wise they run the floor just beautifully and they board just like all Tennessee teams have boarded in the past. It is like they have an absolute passion for the basketball when they board. In a lot of ways the matchup is very similar. I think we both like to get up and down the floor and both teams are very athletic so the matchup is good. The schedule that they have played is certainly stronger than our schedule. When you look at the common opponents we have beaten most of them but Tennessee has blown them away, by 25 or 30. I think this is one of the teams that Pat (Summit) likes as much as any team that she has had in a long time. She has enjoyed this particular team and I think other than maybe (Kara) Lawson no great superstar, but a nice blend of talent and they are playing very well together right now.”
On the recent close series with Tennessee
“We have had some really good games, I do not know about great ones because we have not won them too often but they have been exceptional contests. They beat us at the buzzer a couple of years ago here and I do not know how to explain that.
“I think certainly it is because the two schools know each other very well. No. 1, over the past five, six, seven years we have had better players in our program and that has give is a better chance to compete. I think during that time the programs have grown closer together and you can go back to maybe 1997. We began at that time getting a different quality of player. Even the games that have been a 10 or 15-point difference have all been good ballgames up until the last three or four minutes. It is nothing magic though it is just a matter of us being able to play hard for 40 minutes and be able to sustain it. That is what you have to be able to do against Tennessee. You may bend some but you cannot break, you have to keep coming at them with the pressure. It ought to be a heck of a contest.”