PALO ALTO, Calif. — On Saturday, the top-seeded LSU women’s basketball team made its final preparations for Sunday’s 6 p.m. CST matchup with No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech. The Lady Tigers practiced for an hour at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion.
The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2, aired on the radio by 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and streamed on the Internet around the world only on www.LSUsports.net.
In its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2000, LSU (29-3) squares off against the Western Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champion for the 19th time in school history and the fourth time in the NCAA Tournament.
Louisiana Tech (31-2) holds a 12-6 advantage in the series dating back to Feb. 18, 1976, including 3-0 in NCAA tournament action. The teams last met on March 20, 1999, in the West Regional semifinal in Los Angeles.
“There’s great admiration for Tech’s program,” LSU coach Sue Gunter said in Saturday’s press conference. “When you’ve got the tradition and when you’ve got the banners hanging from the ceiling like they do, they’ve got your attention.”
LSU, making its 13th appearances in the women’s dance, defeated Southwest Texas and Wisconsin-Green Bay in Eugene, Ore., in the past week to advance to regional play.
The Lady Tigers are led by National Freshman of the Year Seimone Augustus, who averages 15.1 points per game, 5.6 rebounds and shoots 55.6 percent from the field. She is flanked by senior All-SEC forward Aiysha Smith (13.0 ppg., 5.6 rpg.), senior forward Ke-Ke Tardy (7.9 ppg., 2.6 rpg.), junior All-SEC point guard Temeka Johnson (10.1 ppg., 5.7 apg.) and junior guard Doneeka Hodges (9.2 ppg., 2.6 rpg.).
Two reserves who will play key roles against the post-oriented Lady Techsters will be 6-5 sophomore center Crystal White (3.5 ppg., 2.4 rpg., 2.0 bpg.) and 5-11 senior forward DeTrina White (7.7 ppg., 6.4 rpg.).
“Crystal had a very good subregional out in Eugene and gained a little bit of confidence,” Gunter said. “DeTrina White is playing back almost to normal now. She’s beginning to feel maybe as well as she’s felt all year. We’re just going to have to do a really good job and have a really good post rotation with those post players. We’ve got Wendlyn Jones in the wings too. We’ve just got to play hard, play tough and do the best we can.”
Complementing their offensive prowess, the Lady Tigers feature a tenacious defensive mindset. LSU ranked second in the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense (58.2 ppg.), third in field-goal percentage defense (38.3 percent) and first in three-point field goal defense (24.8 percent), blocked shots (5.25 bpg.), turnover margin (+5.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.38).
Louisiana Tech, which has been a part of all 22 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournaments, received a No. 5 seed despite winning 29-straight games to end the season and going through WAC play with an 18-0 record (excluding) three wins in the WAC Tournament.
“I think there were a lot of people who were wondering how they could have possibly been seeded No. 5, particularly with their record” Gunter said. “I understand why, but they’re an awfully good team.
“I know they think they should be seeded higher and I personally think they should be seeded higher.”
The sixth-ranked Lady Techsters have won two NCAA championships in school history (1982 and 1988) and have appeared in 10 of the past 11 Sweet 16s. Louisiana Tech holds a 16-2 all-time record in regional semifinals.
Senior center Cheryl Ford, the two-time WAC Player of the Year, leads the Lady Techsters in both points and rebounds, averaging a double double with 15.7 ppg. and 12.8 rpg. However, Ford’s just one of four Lady Techsters averaging double figures scoring. Forward Trina Frierson (14.9 ppg.), along guards Amber Obaze (12.0 ppg.) and Erica Smith (11.4 ppg.) join Ford in the starting lineup.
“To try to defend them, you’ve probably got to think about defending inside out,” Gunter said. “And, yet, their perimeter game is so strong that you really can’t do a lot of help because they’re going to hurt you with dribble penetration and hurt you from the perimeter as well.”
Other player quotes:
LSU’s Ke-Ke Tardy
On the floor at Maples Pavilion…
“I think it’s an unusual surface. It has a little more bounce to it than we’re used to. It’s a different floor. It’s not our home floor, it’s not their home floor either, but it’s unique. Seems like you can jump a little bit higher.”
LSU’s Seimone Augustus
On the rivalry with Louisiana Tech…
“We just look at it as a Sweet 16 game to get us to the Elite 8 and to the Final Four. We’re all from Louisiana, and it’s kind of a rivalry, I guess, with Tech being three hours away. We just want to look at this game as a chance to advance to the next round.”
On handling the tournament as a freshman…
“Coming in, I knew that we were a great team. We had a lot of expectations on us, and then we exceeded some of those expectations. It’s overwhelming that we’ve made it this far and we have a lot more to go. It’s been wonderful. My teammates and the coaching staff have been getting me through this season, playing in the SEC and now the postseason against the most competitive of competition. It’s been tough, but I’ve been getting through it.”
On being recruited by Louisiana Tech…
“They recruited me since eighth grade. They’ve been behind me. Now that I get a chance to play them, I get to see their competitive nature. I went to some of their summer camps and things like that and all of the players were great athletes. But, I didn’t go there, so we just have to play against them.”
LSU’s Aiysha Smith
On matching up with Tech’s inside game…
“It’s just like playing (Vanderbilt’s) Chantelle Anderson or Jenni Benningfield, or Tennessee’s inside game. It’s going to be tough, but we’re ready. The coaches have us prepared. We’re going to come out and just play our game.