CLEVELAND — The game is finally here!
LSU’s women’s basketball team has been in town since Thursday, but the main event has arrived when the Lady Tigers face Rutgers at 6 p.m. CDT in the national semifinal game at Quicken Loans Arena on Sunday.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN with Mike Patrick and Doris Burke calling the action. You can also listen to the game on the LSU Sports Radio Network (107.3 FM in Baton Rouge) and in the Geaux Zone on www.lsusports.net.
The Lady Tigers (30-7), the Fresno Regional champions as a three-seed, defeated UNC Ashville, West Virginia, Florida State and Connecticut to reach the program’s fourth straight Final Four.
“Obviously we’re very pleased to be here,” LSU acting head coach Bob Starkey said. “This is our fourth time in four years. And I don’t think the excitement changes at all.”
Rutgers (26-8), the Greensboro Regional champions as a four-seed, defeated East Carolina, Michigan State, Duke and Arizona State to reach the program’s second Final Four and first since 2000.
Sylvia Fowles, a 2007 Kodak All-American, leads LSU into the national semifinal. The 6-6 junior center has averaged 17.2 points and 12.7 rebounds per game this season. The Miami, Fla., native earned regional Most Outstand Player honors after posting 21.5 points and 12.0 boards in the wins over FSU and UConn.
Quianna Chaney has scored 12.0 points per game this season, including 14.0 per game in the tournament.
Four players average in double figures for the Scarlet Knights, including regional MOP Matee Ajavon’s 11.4 points per game. Fellow guard Epiphanny Price has averaged 12.8, while center Kia Vaughn at 12.9 and Essence Carson at 12.6 complete the list.
This will be the fifth meeting between the two programs. Rutgers leads the series 3-1, including a 51-49 overtime victory in 2005, the last meeting.
The winner of the game will battle the winner of the other national semifinal game between Tennessee and North Carolina for the national championship on Tuesday night.