The LSU 2014 women’s basketball team doesn’t have many memories of playing at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo., but the one they do recall involved a wintery adversary.
LSU was scheduled to play Missouri on Feb. 21, 2013, for the first time since 1989, but a snowstorm pushed the contest back a day and gave the Lady Tigers a remarkable sight.
The snowy conditions were only fun for so long, though.
“Our last trip to Missouri, we were all excited at first,” said senior forward Theresa Plaisance. “It was the first time some of us had seen snow, so we were outside playing in it. Next thing we know, the snow was against us, and it was the reason we had to push the game back. We went from loving the snow to hating the snow in the same two hours.”
Plaisance seemed unfazed by the extra day off, as she went on to score 21 points in a 78-74 overtime victory for LSU.
Luckily for LSU (13-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference), no snow is currently in the forecast for tonight’s contest against Missouri, but the improved weather doesn’t hide the fact that Columbia is a difficult venue for visiting teams to win in.
Missouri (13-4, 2-2 SEC) is 9-1 at home this season, including a recent SEC victory against Georgia.
“Missouri is a tough place to play,” Plaisance said. “They have a renovated arena, they have a pretty nice crowd and they’re pretty big basketball people out there. Playing against them, you always have to be aware of their shooters and their inside presence.”
Today’s game will kick off a stretch for LSU that includes six of 10 SEC games away from Baton Rouge.
Missouri is led by senior forward Bri Kulas, who has averaged 18.7 points per game. She has shot 47.3 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3-point range.
Morgan Eye, Missouri’s junior guard, has also impressed this season, averaging 11.9 points per contest while logging the most total minutes for the squad (528).
LSU coach Nikki Caldwell said Missouri could pose several matchup problems for her squad.
“They have some very legitimate players, and they’ve got a system that lends some trouble to our defensive scheme at times because they can really stretch you,” Caldwell said. “We’ve struggled against teams that can really stretch us in our zones. We’re going to have to tweak some things, but again, we’re going to have to stay true to our principles.”
Eye has proven to be a threat from 3-point range, hitting 43.8 percent of her 130 attempted shots. Of Missouri’s total points, 40 percent come from threes.
Caldwell said she will have her players prepared for the long-range threat.
“We’re going to stay true to our defensive scheme,” Caldwell said. “They have players that can make threes. They make about 10 per game. We’ve got to have great awareness of where they are at times on the floor.”
“They have some very legitimate players, and they’ve got a system that lends some trouble to our defensive scheme at times because they can really stretch you.”