GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The LSU women’s basketball team wraps up its season’s long five-game road swing and heads into the SEC portion of its schedule Friday against Florida at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be carried online only by SEC Network Plus. The game is available on http://www.watchespn.com/ and the WatchESPN app. Larry Vettel and Mark Wise 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 Lady Tigers, also will be available for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live.
LSU (6-6, 0-0 SEC) and Florida (8-5, 0-0 SEC) have never met during a SEC opener. The Lady Tigers hold a 25-12 series edge over the Gators, but Florida has won three of the last four meetings which include the last two games in Gainesville. However, LSU secured an 82-68 victory over the Gators last season behind a dominant 38-12 effort in paint points and a 26-5 edge in second-chance points.
Florida showcases a balanced offensive attack with seven players averaging over six points per game. Cassie Peoples leads the way with 10.5 points, 3.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. She has a knack for getting to the foul line where she has buried 42-of-48 of her attempts. Her 87.5 percentage ranks second on the SEC leaderboard. Last season, Peoples pumped in a team-leading 22 points against LSU.
Over her last three outings, Ronni Williams has posted a team-leading 11.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for the Gators. Williams checks in with 9.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the season. Williams is joined on the interior by Kayla Lewis who has chipped in 8.7 points per game on 51.0 percent shooting coupled with 6.5 rebounds per game. Carlie Needles serves as Florida’s three-point specialist and has hit 21 of her 29 baskets from triple territory.
“We can’t let Florida get the best of us especially with their guard play,” head coach Nikki Caldwell said. “You have to know where (Cassie) Peoples is on the floor at all times. She has great range. All of their guards are effective and can score the basketball. We have to exceed their intensity. That’s through your defensive effort. LSU’s identity is defense and board play. We have to get back to that, and we’ve been stressing it in practice. We’ve had glimpses of it, but we haven’t been able to put it together consistently for an entire game.”
The Lady Tigers have won their previous three SEC openers under Caldwell highlighted by an 80-77 road victory over No. 5 Tennessee last season. The upcoming 16-game SEC schedule features a single round-robin with one permanent opponent (Texas A&M) and two random opponents (Ole Miss, South Carolina) that LSU will play twice.
LSU enters Friday’s action tops in the SEC and has connected on 37.5 percent of its three-point field goals. Jenna Deemer has played a major role in that feat and knocked down 17 of her 33 field goals from beyond the three-point arc. She has racked up a team-leading 15.0 points per game on 17-of-25 from the floor over her last three outings and earned Miami Holiday All-Tournament honors.
DaShawn Harden and Raigyne Moncrief continue to fuel the Lady Tiger backcourt. Harden has been inserted into the starting lineup during five of LSU’s last six games. She has fired in 13.9 points per game and reached double figures seven times over her last eight games. Harden has collected 2.7 steals per game which is fourth in the SEC rankings.
Moncrief has amassed a team-leading eight 10-plus point performances which includes her last three outings. She has filled the box score with 10.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Her 7.9 rebounds are tops among SEC guards and sixth overall, while the 2.3 steals are good enough for seventh place in the SEC.
LSU’s post game is headlined by Akilah Bethel and Sheila Boykin. Boykin has upped her averages to 11.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game over her last five appearances. She has reached double figures during four of those games and notched a pair of double-doubles. Bethel has tallied 7.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. She has secured at least five points in 10 of 12 games and hauled in at least five rebounds on nine occasions.
Rina Hill has served as LSU’s starting point guard in eight of 12 games. She has compiled 4.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. The Japan native garnered a season’s best 11 points versus UNC Greensboro.
Anne Pedersen has come away with 5.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game whereas Jasmine Rhodes has turned in 3.3 points and 2.7 steals per game during her last three games.
Ann Jones has added 4.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She has notched 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting over her last three appearances. Stephanie Amichia and Alliyah Fareo have dialed up 3.1 points and 0.9 points per game, respectively. Fareo has missed LSU’s last five games due to an arm injury.
“We need to become that 40-minute team,” Caldwell said. “I asked the team in the locker room after the Miami game, what will a 40-minute team look like? What are you going to do each day to get better? You have to be a 40-minute team prior to the tip. We have to make sure that we’re preparing and doing what we need to do to get this group to have us get off to a great start. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve played around with different lineups to see who can get us off to a great start because that’s the first punch going to be thrown in a game is during that first four-minute segment.”
LSU returns home Sunday to square off with top-ranked South Carolina. Tipoff for the program’s annual “Gold Game” is set for 2 p.m. from the Maravich Center. Fans can receive free admission courtesy of the Advocate by printing off the free voucher located on www.LSUsports.net for redemption at the Maravich Center Box Office which opens at 12:30 p.m. on gameday.
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.