BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team returns home to take on No. 1 South Carolina during its SEC home opener and program’s annual “Gold Game” Sunday at the Maravich Center.
Tipoff is slated for 2:05 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised by ESPN2. The telecast also will be available on http://www.watchespn.com/ and the Watch ESPN app. Dave O’Brien and Carolyn Peck will serve as the broadcast 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.
Fans can receive free admission to Sunday’s game 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. The first 1,500 fans receive an “All for One” LSU women’s basketball t-shirt.
LSU (7-6, 1-0 SEC) and South Carolina (13-0, 1-0 SEC) both secured victories during their SEC openers on Friday. The Lady Tigers overcame a 15-point first half deficit and claimed a 68-65 victory at Florida, while the Gamecocks cruised to a 77-58 win over Auburn.
LSU holds a 22-6 series edge over the Gamecocks, but South Carolina has tucked away three of the last five wins in the series dating back to the 2010-11 season. The Gamecocks collected a 73-57 victory over LSU last season for only their second all-time win in 16 meetings at the Maravich Center.
LSU has defeated the last two SEC teams it has faced who were ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Lady Tigers came away with a 78-62 win at No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 14, 2008 and collected a 72-69 victory over the Lady Vols on Feb. 21, 1999.
South Carolina is fueled by Tiffany Mitchell, the SEC’s Preseason Player of the Year. She has secured 14.2 points and 3.2 assists per game. She is connecting on 53.0 percent of her field goal attempts highlighted by a team-high 29 three-pointers. A’ja Wilson (14.0 PPG), Aliana Coates (11.4 PPG) and Aleighsa Welch (10.1 PPG) also are averages in double figures for the Gamecocks. Coates holds the top spot on the SEC leaderboard and has pulled down 9.2 rebounds per game.
“South Carolina is a very seasoned basketball team,” head coach Nikki Caldwell said. “They have outstanding guard play led by Tiffany Mitchell. They are huge with a lot of length and depth in the post as well. We’re going to have to be scrappy and defend the ball extremely hard in order to obscure their vision to go inside. South Carolina is a balanced team, and our team has shown that we have some fight in us. It’s going to be a battle, and that’s the beauty about competing in the SEC.”
LSU’s backcourt is sparked by DaShawn Harden and Raigyne Moncrief. Last time out, Harden racked up a career-high 20 of her 23 points during the second half at Florida. The 23 points tied for the second-highest scoring output by a SEC player during the 2015 league openers. She has reached double figures in eight of her last nine games where she has averaged 14.9 points per game.
Moncrief also has tallied eight 10-plus point performances which includes her last three of her last four outings. She has posted a balanced 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Moncrief chipped in eight points, six assists and five rebounds at Florida.
LSU’s post game is headlined by Akilah Bethel and Sheila Boykin. Boykin has upped her averages to 10.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game over her last six appearances. She has reached double figures during four of those five games. Bethel has tallied 6.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. She has produced at least five points and five rebounds in 10 of 13 games on the season.
Rina Hill has served as LSU’s starting point guard in nine of 13 games. She has compiled 4.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
Anne Pedersen has come away with 6.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game whereas Jasmine Rhodes has turned in 3.5 points and 2.3 steals per game during her last four games. Pedersen amassed a career-high 14 points on a flawless 6-for-6 shooting at Florida.
Ann Jones has added 4.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. She has notched 19 points on 7-of-16 from the floor over her last four appearances. Stephanie Amichia and Alliyah Fareo have dialed up 3.3 points and 0.9 points per game, respectively. Amichia turned in five points and equaled a career-high seven rebounds with 11 of her 19 minutes coming during the second half at Florida.
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.