BATON ROUGE — The Lady Tigers square off against 23rd-ranked Alabama at 1 p.m. Sunday in a showdown that could determine the SEC Western Division title.
The No. 25-ranked Lady Tigers (12-6, 4-5 SEC) have reeled off three straight victories, setting them up for a shot at overtaking the division leading Crimson Tide (9-7, 4-4 SEC). If they win Sunday over Alabama and next Saturday over Arkansas, LSU would capture its first share of the Western Division title since 2001.
Alabama’s biggest weapons are 37th-ranked Robin Stephenson and 57th-ranked Ashley Bentley. As a doubles team, the two are ranked 35th. Stephenson has recorded wins this season over the first and second-ranked players in the nation at the time of the match.
“I’ve been very impressed with Alabama,” said LSU head coach Tony Minnis. “They’ve played with a lot of intensity. We are going to have to come out ready to play.”
But LSU’s strong singles play has taken them far recently as well. The Lady Tigers have won ten singles matches in their last two outings, led by 62nd-ranked senior Jessica Ferguson at No. 1 singles.
Alabama won the last two meetings between the teams, but LSU leads the overall series, 21-8.
Live scoring for the match is available at LSUsports.net.