When the LSU women’s basketball team travels to Brooklyn, N.Y. to compete in the 2013 Barclays Center Women’s Invitational on Friday and Saturday, they’ll arrive shorthanded due to a controversial call.
The Lady Tigers’ 81-69 victory over Louisiana Tech last week was marred by a scuffle involving Louisiana Tech forward TyJae’ Chenevert and LSU guards DaShawn Harden and Danielle Ballard. After a video review, the officials ruled the three players were fighting and ejected all of them.
Head coach Nikki Caldwell still disagrees with the call, and believes her players were given a bad break.
“Do I agree that my kids were fighting? No,” Caldwell said. “My kids were in a situation that was unfortunate because of how the rules are stated and what constitutes a fight. We were on the short end of the stick.”
The Lady Tigers dealt with similar adversity in the 2012 season, when the team was relegated to seven players at one point. Senior forward Theresa Plaisance said the team is used to rolling with the punches and being a few players down is not anything to worry about.
The Lady Tigers begin the tournament against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Friday at noon, and will play either Texas Tech or Michigan on Saturday.
LSU has already played in a tournament earlier this season, winning two games and reaching the semifinals of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. That run culminated in a 88-67 loss to Louisville, the eventual tournament champion.
Caldwell said the lessons learned in the WNIT will be key to success this weekend.
“You look back at the Louisville game, and it is a two- possession game with thirty minutes elapsed in the game … and we fell to pieces,” Caldwell said. “You also can take their aggressive play [as an example] because once they started to build a lead, they kept at us.”
Rutgers sophomore guard Kahleah Copper leads the Scarlet Knights this season, registering 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Despite standing only 6-foot-1, Copper has grabbed double digit rebounds twice this season, including a 13 board performance in last Friday’s win against Howard.
The Scarlett Knights have shined down low early this season, outrebounding their opponents in three of their last four games.
After struggling with their own rebounding skills early, Plaisance said the Lady Tigers’ training in practice will help her team succeed in the tournament.
“Box-outs are going to be key against Rutgers, they are a great offensive rebounding team,” Plaisance said. “They are going to be a great test to see where we are on the defensive boards.”
The Lady Tigers were excited for the opportunity to play in the Barclays Center. Caldwell said the opponents and setting of the invitational make for an NCAA tournament-esque feel.
“Any time you are able to go on the road and play quality opponents … it kind of gives you that tournament feel,” Caldwell said. “We’re going to be tested early as far as how good are we going to be as a real team.”