The chips are stacked against the LSU women’s basketball team this weekend, but no one knows that better than the Lady Tigers themselves.
Impossible odds are something the Lady Tigers have dealt with all season long. It’s their persona now.
“I honestly think our backs have been against the wall the entire season,” said freshman guard Jasmine Rhodes. “So I think that this is no different.”
LSU (21-12, 7-9 Southeastern Conference) will face its biggest test of the year when it plays No. 3 seed Louisville (32-4, 16-2 American Athletic Conference) in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament Sunday afternoon on the Cardinals’ home floor.
The Lady Tigers are attempting to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since a Final Four run in 2008. But to accomplish the feat, they’ll have to defeat a team they lost to earlier this season — and do so with a limited roster.
Louisville handed LSU its first loss of the season with an 88-67 victory Nov. 14 at the KFC Yum! Center, the same building the two teams will play in Sunday. The game featured a 21-0 run by the Cardinals that put the game out of reach.
Senior forward Theresa
Plaisance said the run was marred with the Lady Tigers’ own mistakes, and they have become a new team since then.
“I definitely think the second time around we will be more prepared,” Plaisance said. “I feel we’re a completely new team. We are a lot more mature than we were, especially after the SEC season. We have a lot more to
offer now.”
The Cardinals followed up a national runner-up finish last season with their second 30-win season under head coach Jeff Walz. The team is led by ESPNW second team All-American Shoni Schimmel, who leads the team with 17 points and 3.6 assists per game.
The Cardinals became almost unbeatable at the Yum! Center, going 17-1 at home with the lone loss to Connecticut, the No. 1 team in the nation.
If the opponent is not enough, injuries have taken away two of LSU’s starters, including its emotional senior leader.
The first fall came during Sunday’s first-round victory against Georgia Tech when freshman guard Raigyne Moncrief went down with a leg injury. The game had been her first start since an original leg injury Feb. 20 against Georgia. Days later, the team announced Moncrief was out for the season.
During Tuesday’s win against West Virginia, senior guard Jeanne Kenney left the game midway through the first half and did not return.
Thursday, coach Nikki Caldwell revealed what many feared: Kenney had suffered a concussion, the third in her last four seasons.
Considering Kenney’s past, Caldwell decided it was impossible to let Kenney play again.
Without key assets, LSU must rely on the play of Rhodes and freshman guard Rina Hill, like it did Tuesday night. Rhodes scored 11 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes, and Hill went 4-for-4 from the line in the game’s final 30 seconds.
With all the trials, there isn’t a logical reason LSU should continue its improbable run. But then again, there weren’t many reasons it should have beaten West Virginia.
“We’re just going to do all that we can to continue to compete and win basketball games,” Caldwell said. “I know that’s what [Kenney] wants from her teammates.”