BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team will begin the 2014-15 season where it left off at the end of last season with a No. 24 ranking as the USA Today Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll was released on Monday.
The Lady Tigers collected 65 points and were one of five SEC teams inside the preseason Top 25. Joining LSU from the SEC was defending league champion South Carolina at No.2 followed by No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 10 Kentucky. Two-time defending national champion Connecticut holds the top spot and received all 32 first-place votes.
In addition to six games against the SEC squads ranked among the Top 25, LSU will square off against Arkansas, Georgia, Rutgers and Vanderbilt who were listed in the others receiving votes category.
The Lady Tigers will play 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. Following its exhibition contest on Nov. 9, LSU with Club South Runners will hold a 5K Banana Relay/Walk. Registration information is available at http://lsul.su/1o3H6aX.
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.
USA Today Coaches Preseason Top 25
Rank, School (First Place Votes), 2013-14 Record, Points
1, Connecticut (32), 40-0, 800
2, South Carolina, 29-5, 739
3, Notre Dame, 37-1, 736
4, Tennessee, 29-6, 683
5, Texas A&M, 27-9, 630
6, Stanford, 33-4, 608
7, Duke, 28-7, 566
8, Maryland, 28-7, 543
9, Baylor, 32-5, 531
10, Kentucky, 26-9, 484
11, Louisville, 33-5, 474
12, Texas, 22-12, 458
13, North Carolina, 27-10, 407
14, California, 22-10, 366
15, Michigan State, 23-10, 343
16, Nebraska, 26-7, 305
17, West Virginia, 30-5, 12
18, DePaul, 29-7, 246
19, Iowa, 27-9, 217
20, Oklahoma State, 25-9, 164
21, Oregon State, 24-11, 123
22, Dayton, 23-8, 117
23, UCLA, 13-18, 116
24, LSU, 21-13, 65
25, Syracuse, 23-10, 55
Dropped out: No. 14 Penn State (24-8), No. 18 Brigham Young (28-7), No. 19 Purdue (22-9), No. 21 North Carolina State (25-8), No. 22 Gonzaga (29-5).
Others receiving votes: Penn State 50; Rutgers 45; Purdue 37; Georgia 29; Vanderbilt 24; Gonzaga 17; BYU 16; Florida State 16; St. John’s 16; North Carolina State 14; Iowa State 12; South Florida 11; Ohio State 10; Arkansas 9; Oklahoma 8; Oregon 8; Middle Tennessee 7; Southern Cal 7; Western Kentucky 5; James Madison 3; Arizona State 2; Albany 1; Arkansas State 1; Cal State Northridge 1 and Marist 1.