LSU Gold

Women?s Hoops to Begin SEC Second Half Monday

by Matt Dunaway
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Women?s Hoops to Begin SEC Second Half Monday

BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s basketball team will start the second half of SEC play and look to build on its most complete performance of the SEC season when Missouri visits the Maravich Center on Monday evening.

Tipoff is on-tap for 6:02 p.m., and the game will be televised by the SEC Network. The SEC Network telecast also will be available on www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Brenda Van Langen and Carol Ross will serve as the announcing team.

The LSU Sports Radio Network will carry the game on its flagship station Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge. The radio broadcast featuring Patrick Wright, the voice of the Lady Tigers, also will be available for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live.

Tickets for Monday’s game are on-sale at www.LSUtix.net for $1 as part of Monday’s “Pack the PMAC” event. Admission for LSU students and faculty/staff is free with a valid LSU ID card. The Maravich Center Box Office opens at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The first 1,000 fans can pick up LSU women’s basketball gold t-shirt.

LSU (11-9, 5-3 SEC) heads into the weekend’s action in a three-way tie for fourth place in the SEC standings with Kentucky and Georgia who also play each other. Last time out, the Lady Tigers dominated Ole Miss en route to a 70-41 victory. LSU recorded a season’s best 22 steals and handed out 17 assists on its 24 field goals against the Rebels.  

Missouri (12-9, 2-6 SEC) has collected both of its SEC victories over Florida, most recently a 68-52 decision in Gainesville on Thursday. Jordan Frericks has secured a team-leading 13.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. The 9.8 rebounds are second in the SEC rankings. She pumped in 19 points and 13 rebounds at Florida. Morgan Eye has notched 10.1 points per game and knocked down 56 of her 71 field goals from three-point territory.

LSU has won five of the seven all-time meetings over Missouri which includes a 3-0 mark over the last two seasons as SEC opponents. LSU charted both wins by double figures last season and knocked down a school-record 13 three-pointers during its 87-68 win over Missouri in Columbia.

“What’s been key for us against Missouri has been having a contested hand on their three-point attempts,” head coach Nikki Caldwell said. “You can look at certain games, and they’ve put up 30 three’s in a game. You’ve got to know where a player like Morgan Eye is on the floor because she is deadly from the outside. She has deep range and a very quick release.”

Danielle Ballard has moved into the Top 10 in three categories during conference play. Her team-leading 13.8 points per game are sixth, while her 3.0 assists per game are tied for seventh and her 2.8 steals per game are second on the SEC leaderboard. Ballard has ripped off double figures in four straight games and has gone 29-of-44 for a 65.9 percent clip from the field during that stretch. 

Raigyne Moncrief has added a balanced 10.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Like Ballard, she has put together an impressive four-game run where she has upped her mark to 13.3 points per game with at least 15 points on three occasions.

After not playing due to injury at Tennessee, DaShawn Harden returned to action against Ole Miss. She has come away with 11.3 points and 2.4 steals per game. Harden and Moncrief rank second and eight, respectively, in the SEC steals rankings.

Jenna Deemer is coming off her best performance of her career after she dropped in 22 points during the Ole Miss game. She was the third player to reach the 20-point barrier on the season and has amassed five of her seven double figure outings since December 19. The New Orleans native has dialed up 26 of 51 field goals from beyond the three-point arc.

On the interior, Sheila Boykin has worked her way to 7.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. She has started LSU’s last 14 games and drained 58.3 percent of her shot attempts during her last 11 outings. Akilah Bethel has chipped in 6.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. She tied her career-high with four steals as LSU forced a season’s best 30 turnovers against Ole Miss.

Anne Pedersen has garnered 5.4 points per game whereas Rina Hill has contributed 4.1 points per game as members of LSU’s starting five. Pedersen registered six points and four rebounds versus Ole Miss. Over her last three games, Jasmine Rhodes has tallied 3.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

Ann Jones, Stephanie Amichia and Alliyah Fareo give depth to LSU’s post play. Amichia came away with four points, three rebounds and two blocks during the Ole Miss game. 

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.