The 17-0 no. 6 LSU women’s basketball team will face one of their toughest opponents of the season tonight. They will play the 13-1 no. 16 Tennessee Lady Volunteers in a SEC battle.
LSU is one of five remaining undefeated teams in the country, and have the longest win streak. Tennessee lost their first game of the season versus no. 9 Oklahoma on Sunday.
“Every game matters, but every game is not make or break,” Coach Kim Mulkey said about the SEC slate. “Here’s what you do; you win the games you’re supposed to win. You beat somebody you’re not supposed to beat; you shock them. And then you take care of business at home. If you do those things, you’re going to be one of the teams to host tournament games.”
Star Power
Aneesah Morrow enters Thursday’s game just 14 points shy of 2,500 in her career. She is 33 rebounds shy of 1,500 in her career. In NCAA Division I history, there have only been six players to reach both 2,500 points and 1,500 rebounds in their career. Morrow’s 15 double-doubles and 14.0 rebounds per game lead the nation statistically.
Flau’Jae Johnson has been elite per usual this season. The star junior has averaged 19.7 points (fifth in the SEC), 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 50.2% shooting.
Both Johnson and Morrow are on the midseason top 25 watchlist for the coveted Wooden Award.
Tennessee’s Turn Up
“You cannot turn the ball over against their press,” Coach Mulkey said. “It’s more of a run and jump press with a lot of length coming at you and quickness. You can’t turn the ball over and you have to really, really work hard to keep them off the offensive boards.”
Tennessee leads the country with a dominant 20.9 offensive rebounds per game. They are also ranked first in the country with turnovers, forcing 27.6 per game.
First year coach Kim Caldwell has brought a new culture to The Lady Volunteers. They have a fast-paced team that loves to press and shoot heavily from three point land.
Due to this culture shock, Tennessee leads the nation in scoring at 97.3 points per game. LSU is third in the nation with 91.7 points per game.
“The style of play is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Coach Mulkey said. “They score a lot of points and they make you play fast with their press. It’s going to be quite a challenge to keep them from scoring in the nineties. We score a lot of points too.
The battle between these two SEC giants will be a fun one, and Tennessee has a real shot to break the LSU undefeated streak.
