BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball program held its first official practice for the upcoming 2014-15 season with a two-hour workout Wednesday inside its practice facility.
The Lady Tigers bring back seven letterwinners accompanied by a talented group of newcomers who are looking to make an instant impact as LSU looks to build on three straight 20-win campaigns and consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearances under fourth-year head coach Nikki Caldwell.
“I like what our team is doing right now, and I’m very excited about the upcoming season,” Caldwell said. “This has been one of our best offseasons that we’ve had with our training. “Three times a week, the players would get up at 6 a.m. and go after the workout. You go as your guard play goes. We’re looking for our guards to not only set the tone for us with their ability to score the basketball but on defensively as well where we have to be creative with our schemes.”
Leading the group of returnees is Danielle Ballard and Raigyne Moncrief, a pair of All-SEC Freshman Team picks over the last two seasons, which averaged in double figures last season. Ballard racked up 23.3 points and 14.0 rebounds per game during LSU’s three NCAA Tournament games, while Moncrief was fifth among SEC freshmen with 10.1 points per game last season.
The Lady Tigers newcomers are a duo of three-star recruits in Stephanie Amichia and Jenna Deemer along with Alliyah Fareo who has extensive club and international experience from Australia and transfers Akilah Bethel and Ann Jones.
LSU took part in an agility workout on Tuesday before Wednesday’s two-hour workout which focused primarily on defense. The Lady Tigers will have an off day on Thursday before returning to the practice floor on Friday.
“Our focus for these first couple of practices is to becoming one of the best defensive teams and one of the best rebounding teams in the country,” Caldwell said. “We’re going to work in our footwork, work on our angles and work on being explosive in our stance. We hope that we can turn teams over through our defensive pressure and get our transition game going. We’re going to go back to being that LSU team that you’ve known in the past where we’re going to get after teams and make them grind it out.”
LSU will play host to its second-annual Bayou Madness with the men’s team on Friday, Oct. 17 at the Maravich Center. The free event begins outside with a pep rally at 6:45 p.m. followed by court activities inside at 7:30 p.m.
The Lady Tigers will host a pair of exhibition games against Loyola at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5 and Mississippi College at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9.
Season tickets are on sale for $75 online at http://www.LSUtix.net/. The LSU Athletics Ticket Office can be reached at (800) 960-8587 or (225) 578-2184 and is located on the first floor of the Moran Family Center for Athletics Administration Building. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
For all of the latest news and information on Lady Tiger basketball, visit www.LSUsports.net/womensbasketball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/LSUwbkb, @lsuwbkb and @NikkiCaldwell on Twitter, @LSUwbkb and @LSUNikkiCaldwell on Instagram.