BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team returns to the hardwood and faces off with Louisiana Tech Wednesday evening as the Lady Tigers play their final game before a 10-day break for final exams.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:02 p.m., and the game will be nationally televised by the SEC Network. The telecast also will be carried online by http://www.watchespn.com/ and the Watch ESPN app. Cara Capuano and Carolyn Peck will serve as the announcing team.
The LSU Sports Radio Network will broadcast the game on its flagship station Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge. The broadcast featuring Patrick Wright, the voice of the Tigers, also will be available for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live.
Tickets for Wednesday’s game are on-sale at http://www.lsutix.net/ and can be purchased at the Maravich Center Box Office starting as low as $2 for general admission seating. The Maravich Center Box Office opens at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Louisiana Tech (2-2) has split its opening four games on the season and collected road victories over Stephen F. Austin and Alabama A&M. The Lady Techsters are coached by Tyler Summitt, son of Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt. Whitney Frazier has garnered a team-leading 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She has connected on 42.0 percent of her field goals. JaQuan Jackson has chipped in 10.8 points and 2.2 assists per game.
“After our trip to Mexico, we wanted to get back to the United States. We’ve had three very intense practices since returning,” head coach Nikki Caldwell said. “We’ve been very competitive in our practice. We’ve seen a lot of great strides as far as getting better in some areas that have challenged us. I feel as though offensively we’ve done a nice job in being more efficient in the half court which is an area that we’ve struggled in. Defensively, we’ve really worked at changing up our defense and being very consistent on our full court pressure as well. We feel like that has been a strength of ours. We’re looking forward to finally getting back to action tomorrow against a very good Louisiana Tech basketball team.”
LSU (2-4) is looking to end a three-game losing streak. Most recently, the Lady Tigers dropped a 69-67 decision to Santa Clara. LSU put together its most balanced offensive effort of the season as five players reached double figures. The Lady Tigers also dished out 14 assists and committed a season’s low 13 turnovers.
LSU is being led by Raigyne Moncrief‘s 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. She has reached double figures in four of her six starts. Last time out, Moncrief turned in her most complete all-around effort with 10 points and five rebounds coupled with a season-high five assists and five steals.
Anne Pedersen has chipped in 6.5 points and a team-leading 2.0 assists per game. She registered a season’s best 11 points during the Jackson State and Santa Clara contests. The 11 points matched her second-highest scoring output of her career.
On the interior, Akilah Bethel has contributed 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. The 8.5 points are second whereas the 2.0 steals are second on the squad. She has buried 51.3 percent of her shots and averaged 11.3 points per game over her last three outings.
Ann Jones has turned in 5.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while Rina Hill has compiled 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game as LSU’s starting point guard.
Off the bench, the trio of Sheila Boykin, Jenna Deemer and DaShawn Harden has amassed 75.8 percent of LSU’s bench points. Boykin has posted 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game over her last two games which included a career-high 14 points versus Santa Clara and a career-best 11 rebounds against Rutgers. Harden has reached double figures in back-to-back games and knocked down six of her team-leading nine three-pointers over her last two outings.
Alliyah Fareo and Jasmine Rhodes also have appeared in all six games. Rhodes has tallied four points on two occasions, and Fareo has secured a trio of rebounds two times.
“I think we are in a good place,” Caldwell said. “We’ve been able to go back, and we’ve watched some of our games. We can see where there are some areas that if we had been better, it probably would have been a different outcome. They recognize that these things are things we can control and that we can get better at. We can focus on making layups. You take every one of our games, and you see how many layups we’ve missed. You’re talking about leaving 20-plus points on the board. You can’t do that, not with the schedule we have. I like the spirit of our team. I like that they came back from an inconvenience so to speak and throwing them off a bit by not having those games. They came back and worked extremely hard these past three days. The team is improving in practice, and that’s what we are talking about. We are talking about growth, and we are talking about getting better than we were last week and the day before. You can see that in this group.”
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
December 2, 2014
HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
Opening statement
“After our trip to Mexico, we wanted to get back to the United States. We’ve had three very intense practices since returning. We’ve been very competitive in our practice. We’ve seen a lot of great strides as far as getting better in some areas that have challenged us. I feel as though offensively we’ve done a nice job in being more efficient in the half court which is an area that we’ve struggled in. Defensively, we’ve really worked at changing up our defense and being very consistent on our full court pressure as well. We feel like that has been a strength of ours. We’re looking forward to finally getting back to action tomorrow against a very good Louisiana Tech basketball team.”
On returning to action after playing only one game in Mexico …
“We were very diligent in our homework in regards to the tournament. We had spoken to teams that had previously done the same tournament. We spoke to people at Stanford. We spoke to people at Gonzaga, and they had a great experience. Purdue was there the following year so there were some really quality basketball teams who were there in the past. This is something that hasn’t happen in my 24 years with being affiliated with NCAA basketball. I have never heard or experienced anything like this. The team was able to watch some film. We were able to do some team bonding exercises. We got a good workout on the beach. There’s nothing like training in the sand, which is a little bit different from what we’ve been doing. We try to make the most out of the situation that we had no control over.”
On if there has been a change in intensity at practice …
“I have, and I have wondered where that had been in the games. We’re going to continue to dial up practice more – more for them to be ready to compete in the games. They’ve done a nice job especially these past three days of running our action, of really competing and of guarding each other and getting after each other. The competitive spirit in practice has been very high, but it’s also been very positive.”
On the longtime series with Louisiana Tech …
“When you look at LSU and Louisiana Tech, you had Leon Barmore and Sue Gunter who were two phenomenal coaches. You’ve got two pioneers of the game. You’ve got two all-time greats. I’m very fortunate to be gracing the sidelines that Sue Gunter one was at. I know that Tyler (Summitt), being Coach (Pat) Summitt’s son, he understands the history of the game. I know that he feels the same I do, that it’s an honor to be considered and be the head coach at such a prolific program that has really moved our game. It’s great to have two teams with iconic coaches and being a part of that. I’m looking forward to continuing our series. I’m extremely happy for Tyler Summitt and what he has been able to do in such a short period of time. He’s got an old and dear friend of mine, Mickie DeMoss, who was my position coach in college. We are going to go out, and we are going to hug before the game. Then, both teams are going to go out there and play extremely hard. Then, we are going to hug after the game.”
On the team’s performance in the Santa Clara game …
“I saw a different spark with our team, especially in the second half. We were a different basketball team. You know, a lot of credit to Santa Clara, because they found their sharp shooter. She did not miss, and you could not give her an inch. We broke down in challenging her at the three ball. To me, that was the difference in the game – the difference in the two halves. I know in the first half, she had a lot of clear looks at the basket and scored 22 points. In the second half, defensively, we were able to key in on her. She was only able to score 7. I saw a team rally from behind. I saw a team that did not give up. Our defensive pressure really turned the game around, and we were in striking distance. When you are less than two minutes in the game and you are down one possession, to me, that is anybody’s game. Santa Clara made the big plays when they needed to. We fell short on getting the stop and scoring our big play. To me, there are a lot of positives we can take from that game. If we can come out with that same intensity and same fire for 40 minutes, I do believe that the outcome would have been different. We definitely played at a higher level of basketball with our togetherness, our intensity and our emotions. We were in tune. Again, it is a 40 minute basketball game. Santa Clara came out and set the tone. I feel as though we were playing catch up. When we were finally able to get in striking distance, we just fell short.”
On the rejuvenation a week off gives the team …
“I think we are in a good place. We’ve been able to go back, and we’ve watched some of our games. We can see where there are some areas that if we had been better, it probably would have been a different outcome. They recognize that these things are things we can control and that we can get better at. We can focus on making layups. You take every one of our games, and you see how many layups we’ve missed. You’re talking about leaving 20-plus points on the board. You can’t do that, not with the schedule we have. I like the spirit of our team. I like that they came back from an inconvenience so to speak and throwing them off a bit by not having those games. They came back and worked extremely hard these past three days. The team is improving in practice, and that’s what we are talking about. We are talking about growth, and we are talking about getting better than we were last week and the day before. You can see that in this group.”