The LSU women’s basketball team opens up its season with a tough stretch of eight games in 13 days, the most concentrated start to the season of any Southeastern Conference team.
During the summer, LSU coach Nikki Caldwell and the Lady Tigers (2-1) embraced the challenge of the early gauntlet.
“This summer, we put [‘NBA’] on our T-shirts,” Caldwell said. “We are kind of keeping an NBA schedule, but it actually stands for ‘No Babies Allowed’ … It’s a schedule that kind of has that tournament feel to it, where your playing back-to-back games.”
Only three games into the stretch, the Lady Tigers have already been challenged.
LSU faced a turnaround of only 24 hours after dropping its season opener against University of Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday.
LSU bounced back with a 71-45 victory against Sam Houston State on Saturday afternoon. After a string of three home games this week, the Lady Tigers will face back-to-back games again in the Hardwood Tournament of Hope in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from Nov. 25-27.
The team’s ability to make adjustments quickly will help them, especially during this tournament.
“You always talk about after a setback, there’s a comeback,” Caldwell said. “We were able to do that today. This team did a nice job in a short period of time as far as scouting, taking what we did before in our shoot- around and really making those adjustments.”
The Lady Tigers made noticeable improvements in key areas to fuel the comeback.
LSU forced only 13 turnovers against UALR before creating 24 turnovers against Sam Houston State, including 16 steals.
The Lady Tigers struggled early on the offensive end, shooting only 32.6 percent against UALR. Against Sam Houston State, LSU’s improved shot selection increased its shooting to a 42.4 clip.
The mindset of the Lady Tigers to push ahead and not concentrate on past mistakes is key to pushing through these quick turnarounds.
“You just have to get over it, you can’t go back,” said freshman forward Stephanie Amichia. “There’s no time machine to go back and fix anything. You take what you need from that game. You capitalize off of the things you did well, and you learn from your mistakes.”
Along with preparing players for the intense concentration of games in the postseason, opening the season with such a tough stretch helps young players grow up before Southeastern Conference play.
Despite struggling in the regular season opener, freshman guard Jenna Deemer led the Lady Tigers with 16 points against Sam Houston State, including shooting 2-for-3 from behind the 3-point line.
This concentrated stretch of games so early in the season forces LSU to develop chemistry on both ends of the floor more quickly than a relaxed schedule to start the season would.
“I think a big key to [team chemistry] is knowing your role on the team,” Deemer said. “When everybody plays their role, I feel like we’re unstoppable because everyone has a different role.”
The variety of offenses LSU will face during the stretch prepares the Lady Tigers to play multiple defensive schemes and adapt to different approaches to scoring.
Against UALR, the Lady Tigers faced a team that drove to the basket and kicked out passes to the corners for a perimeter shot. LSU struggled defending the drive, which resulted in both starting forwards being in foul trouble the majority of the game.
Despite the difficulties of their early schedule, the Lady Tigers have adapted to the challenges and developed as a unit.
“This is a very aggressive schedule and a very intense one, but I’ve said this before: If you ask student-athletes if they want to practice or they want to play, they’re probably going to tell you they want to play,” Caldwell said.
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.