TAMPA, Fla. ? The “Drive for Five” is done and the “Quest for One” has begun.
The LSU women’s basketball team reached the program’s fifth-straight NCAA Final Four and now the Lady Tigers have their eyes on a national title.
LSU (31-5), the winner of the New Orleans Region, will face Tennessee (34-2), the winner of the Oklahoma City Region, in the national semifinal at 8:30 p.m. CDT on Sunday in the St. Pete Times Forum.
The winner will play for the national championship on Tuesday night.
This will be the third meeting between the two Southeastern Conference rivals this season. LSU won the regular season meeting, 78-62, on Feb. 14 in Knoxville and eventually won the SEC regular season title, while the Lady Vols defeated the Lady Tigers, 61-55, in Nashville on March 9 in the SEC Tournament championship game.
Overall in 47 previous meetings, Tennessee has won 36 games, but LSU has claimed two of the last three games against the Lady Vols and the teams have split the last six contests.
Sylvia Fowles, a State Farm All-American, leads LSU into the Final Four. The 6-6 senior center has averaged 17.2 points and 10.0 rebounds overall this season and 17.0 points and 10.8 board in the four tournament games.
LSU, the No. 2 seed in the New Orleans region, defeated Jackson State, Marist, Oklahoma State and North Carolina in the advance to Tampa.
Quianna Chaney, a 5-11 senior guard, compliments Fowles with 14.6 points per game, while senior point guard Erica White, who along with Fowles are playing in their home state of Florida, has posted 7.7 points and 4.4 assists per contest this season.
Candice Parker, the USBWA National Player of the Year, leads Tennessee. The 6-4 junior has averaged 21.6 points and 8.3 rebounds overall this season and posted 24.5 points and 8.3 rebounds in the four tournament games.
Tennessee, the top seed in the Oklahoma City region, got past Oral Roberts, Purdue, Notre Dame and Texas A&M to reach the Final Four.
Stanford, the winner of the Spokane Region, will face Connecticut, the Greensboro Region winner, face off in the first national semifinal game on Sunday at 6 p.m. CDT.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN HD and the LSU game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network (107.3 FM) in Baton Rouge and can be heard in the GeauxZone at www.LSUsports.net.