INDIANAPOLIS — LSU’s top-seeded Lady Tigers basketball team, in the program’s second straight NCAA Final Four, faces Baylor on Sunday at 6 p.m. CDT in the RCA Dome in the national semifinal game.
LSU (33-2), the Chattanooga Regional Champions, defeated Stetson, Arizona, Liberty and Duke to reach the Final Four. Baylor (31-3), the Tempe Regional Champions as the No. 2 seed, defeated Illinois State, Oregon, Minnesota and North Carolina to advance to their first Final Four in school history.
“I guess I’ll start with the obvious,” LSU head coach Pokey Chatman said. “We are ecstatic to be here, like any team would be. But, first and foremost, we are fortunate enough that we have been able to hang our hats on the defensive end of the floor. For us, like in the previous four tournament games, it is going to take a tremendous defensive effort if we are going to be victorious.”
In LSU four tournament games, the opponents averaged 44.0 points and shot just 29.9 percent from the floor. None of the four scored over 49 points and the Lady Tigers posted a 29.8 margin of victory.
Seimone Augustus, the recently named State Farm Wade Trophy winner as the nation’s top player, leads the Lady Tigers. The junior is averaging 20.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and was named the regional Most Outstanding Player after pouring in 24 points against Duke.
Temeka Johnson, a senior point guard for LSU, is averaging 10.3 points and 7.7 assists per game overall and is posting 12.5 points and 9.3 assists in the four NCAA Tournament games.
Sophia Young, a fellow Kodak/WBCA All-American with Augustus, leads Baylor. She is averaging 18.1 points and 9.3 rebounds overall this season and 22.8 points and 8.0 rebounds in the four tournament games.
This will be the second time the teams will meet this season. LSU defeated Baylor 71-70 on Nov. 14 in Austin, Texas as part of the State Farm Tipoff Classic. It was the third game of the year for the Lady Tigers, who were led by Augustus with a career-high 33 points. Baylor opened the season with that loss and Stephanie Blackmon hit for 22 points and Young had 21.
Overall, this will be the ninth time the teams will meet. LSU owns a 6-2 series advantage, including the victory back in November.
The winner of the game will face the winner of the other national semifinal game between Tennessee and Michigan State in the national championship game on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
PROBABLE STARTERS
| lsu (33-2) | ||||||
| POS. | NO. | name | ht. | year | ppg | rpg |
| G | 2 | Temeka Johnson | 5-3 | Sr. | 10.3 | 7.7* |
| G | 32 | Scholanda Hoston | 5-10 | Jr. | 9.0 | 2.5 |
| F | 33 | Seimone Augustus | 6-1 | Jr. | 20.1 | 4.6 |
| F | 34 | Wendlyn Jones | 6-1 | Jr. | 4.8 | 5.2 |
| C | 52 | Tillie Willis | 6-3 | Sr. | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| *- assists per game |