BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team will take the Maravich Center floor for the first of two exhibition contests Wednesday versus Loyola of New Orleans. Admission is free for both of LSU’s exhibition games courtesy of the Advocate’s Geaux Free program.
Tip time is slated for 7:02 p.m., and the game will be carried online only by SEC Network Plus via http://www.watchespn.com/ and the Watch ESPN app. Lyn Rollins and Victor Howell will serve as the announcing team.
The LSU Sports Radio Network also will broadcast the game on its flagship station Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and inside at the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net/live. Patrick Wright, the voice of the Lady Tigers, will begin his 25th season with the program.
“I know the team is ready,” head coach Nikki Caldwell said. “They are ready to get out of practice and start competing. They have shown through their practice that it’s going to be a good matchup for us. We’ve had an opportunity to watch film on Loyola, and they are a really good basketball team with the ability to stretch your defense. This is going to be a good challenge for us.”
LSU brings back an experienced backcourt among its seven returning letterwinners which include senior DaShawn Harden, juniors Danielle Ballard and Anne Pedersen along with sophomores Rina Hill, Raigyne Moncrief and Jasmine Rhodes.
Harden broke into the starting lineup in seven of LSU’s final eight games last season and averaged close to 10 points per game as a starter. She tallied 17 points against Georgia Tech followed by a 12-point effort versus West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament.
Pedersen has proved her worth over her first two seasons in multiple roles for LSU. She can be a scorer, a distributer and a tough defender. Pedersen registered a career-high 13 points and nailed a trio of three-pointers as LSU drained a school record 13 triples at Missouri.
Ballard and Moncrief, a pair of All-SEC Preseason Team candidates, are LSU’s two leading returning scorers and put together a combined 29 games of double digit scoring highlighted by eight performances of 20-plus points.
Ballard put together a NCAA Tournament run for the ages where she averaged 23.3 points and 14.0 rebounds per game. She enters her junior season 170 points away from reaching 1,000 and 74 rebounds shy of reaching 500 for her career.
Moncrief is coming of an All-SEC Freshman Team campaign where she produced 10.1 points and 1.8 steals per game. She suffered an injury during LSU’s victory over Georgia Tech during the NCAA Tournament First Round.
Hill is poised to take over the reigns at the point guard position and went to great measures to learn the new pieces to the offense during the offseason. She notched eight points and two assists – all in the second half – during LSU’s comeback win over West Virginia in the NCAAs.
“Rina Hill – she is someone that is just Rina ‘Toughness’ Hill,” Caldwell said. “She just has that about her. She knows how to push past that threshold where I can give you a little more. She has shown that in her offseason conditioning, in the weight room and she has shown that in practice. Her leadership is something we are going to lean on heavily because she has the knowledge and the work ethic was her teammates will follow her.”
Rhodes stepped up her play in pressure situations as she picked up 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in LSU’s three NCAA Tournament games. She came away with 11 points and six rebounds versus West Virginia followed by eight points and eight rebounds at Louisville in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Joining the backcourt are junior Akilah Bethel and freshman Jenna Deemer.
Bethel is a multi-threat guard who can use her size and strength to create her own shot. She strives with the ball in her hands and possesses a strong face-up game. In her two seasons at West Virginia, Bethel played a valuable role off the bench but has the talent to break into LSU’s starting five.
Deemer, a New Orleans product, is an athletic floor leader with a scorer’s mentality. She picked up a trio of Class 4A All-State selections. She scored She scored 1,715 career points and averaged over 20 points per game for Ursuline Academy.
LSU’s frontcourt features senior Sheila Boykin and junior Ann Jones in addition to freshmen Stephanie Amichia and Alliyah Fareo.
Boykin brings experience to LSU’s frontcourt with her 82 career appearances and has fully recovered from Gullian-Barre syndrome which sidelined her at the end of the 2012-13 season. She will once again be a valuable member of LSU’s post rotation.
Jones has a physical presence in the interior and a knack for finding the basketball. She has a scorer’s mentality when called upon and was a two-time Conference USA Freshman of the Week at Memphis.
Amichia brings a physical interior game and competes hard on the glass with a college ready frame out. She excels in an up-tempo style and brings a winners mentality where she helped North Gwinnett High School to a Georgia Class 6A runner-up finish and a pair of Class 6A Final Fours.
Fareo, a southpaw post player from Australia, secured a gold medal at the 2013 FIBA U19 Pacific Championships followed by a silver medal at the 2014 Australia Junior Championships. She is a versatile offensive threat not only on the interior but can hit the midrange jumper.
Alexis Hyder, an All Sun Belt performer, will sit out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA transfer rules. She will have two years of eligibility remaining starting in 2015-16 after transferring to the Lady Tigers from North Texas.
“We’ve been running waves of players,” Caldwell said. “That’s something that we are going to explore which combinations work well together, and we will continue to evaluate who gets us off to a great start. It’s not necessarily about who starts the game. It’s about what you do with the minutes that you’re given and how productive you are.”
The Lady Tigers also will play host to a free exhibition game versus Mississippi College at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. Following Sunday’s exhibition contest, 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.
LSU Women’s Basketball Media Session
November 4, 2014
HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
On the team’s expectations for tomorrow’s exhibition games …
“I know the team is ready. They are ready to get out of practice and start competing. They have shown through their practice that it’s going to be a good matchup for us. We’ve had an opportunity to watch film on Loyola, and they are a really good basketball team with the ability to stretch your defense. This is going to be a good challenge for us. I like scheduling games were you’ve got great teams that can not only shoot the three but also score the ball multiple ways because when you get ready for the season with teams like Missouri that can really stretch you. This will be a good challenge for us.”
On the team’s defense …
“Our back line – we’ve got to come out and extend. Our guard play up top will be pretty strong, but our back line has got to come out of our matchup and be there. We talk about be there on the catch with the man-to-man principles out of our matchup. It’s going to take all five people because we discuss everyone has to close out and defend the basketball. It’s going to be a challenge not only for our guard play but for our bigs as well”
On the team’s uniform mindset to start the season …
“I think it’s a process. It’s a process that started in the offseason when you are up at 6 a.m. in the morning. You are training to be the best, but more importantly you are training as a unit. The sooner that we can train and buy in, the easier it is to come in to practice and just talk about strategy, talk about the X’s and O’s and not really having to worry about getting people in shape or just trying to get up and down the floor. (Strength and Conditioning Coach) Melissa (Seal) did a fabulous job during the offseason training for our team this year.”
On what her expectations are for the team out of the gate …
“We aren’t a team that is shy to turn the ball over, but we are going to play faster. We’ve been practicing faster so there are going to be more mistakes, and we are trying to make practice harder than the actual game. With that there is going to be growing pains, but I do feel as though we take every day and try to add layers. Hopefully in doing so, we will be ready for the game Wednesday. We will come back, and we will evaluate and work on the things that challenged us and just try to build layers.”
On Raigyne Moncrief returning from injury at the end of last season …
“Ray is ready. If we felt like she wasn’t ready to go then we would definitely not play her. We would never put a student-athlete in harm’s way. She’s shown that she’s getting her timing and her rhythm back. She’s shown that she’s not afraid. Once you have a major injury, sometimes the psyche of that injury can limit you in being fearless again. Through our workouts and through (athletic trainer) Micki (Collins) and her team rehabbing Ray, she is ready to go.”
On the players adjusting to new roles
“Well, you tell them why wait. We had the opportunity to have (former LSU All-American) Temeka Johnson come and speak to our team. She had a moving message for our team. What we took from it was why wait. We say all the time that the game does not know your age so why not take this opportunity. We lost a lot when you look at our post play – when you look at Theresa (Plaisance) and Shanece (McKinney) and the great leadership of Jeanne (Kenney) so now it is their opportunity. It’s their minutes to take. We have a young group when you think of adding six new faces to the roster, but we also have an experienced group coming back. It’s been fun watching players emerge, and we are going to try to keep practices competitive and just try to pull out the best in everyone. “
On the impact of having a player like Temeka Johnson come back and talk to the team …
“It’s pretty impressive when you have Temeka Johnson in here evaluating your team from the sidelines, but it’s also great for them to hear her voice. She is somebody that is close enough to the game, and they have seen her playing in the WNBA. There is a respect there. They get tired of hearing coach so it’s always nice to have a former player, someone who’s put their sweat equity into this program to come back and speak about what it is to be a champion.”
On a starting lineup for tomorrow’s exhibition game …
“I do not know at this time, but I’m going to look at different lineups. We had an intrasquad scrimmage, and there are a couple of combinations that I want to look at. I like that there is some healthy competition amongst the team, and we are going to continue to evaluate every game, every practice, to get that starting job.”
On who will take Jeanne Kenney‘s leadership role …
“Rina Hill – she is someone that is just Rina ‘Toughness’ Hill. She just has that about her. She knows how to push past that threshold where I can give you a little more. She has shown that in her offseason conditioning, in the weight room and she has shown that in practice. Her leadership is something we are going to lean on heavily because she has the knowledge and the work ethic was her teammates will follow her.”
On the player rotation for tomorrow’s game …
“We’ve been running waves of players. That’s something that we are going to explore which combinations work well together, and we will continue to evaluate who gets us off to a great start. It’s not necessarily about who starts the game. It’s about what you do with the minutes that you’re given and how productive you are.”