The LSU women’s basketball team will look to begin a winning streak with its next matchup against Missouri at 6 p.m. tonight in the PMAC.
LSU (11-9, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) is shooting for its second win in a row against Missouri (12-9, 2-6 SEC), which has lost seven of its last nine games.
LSU coach Nikki Caldwell said her team is taking each game in stride and will prepare for Missouri appropriately, regardless of its record.
“Stay in the moment,” Caldwell said after LSU’s 70-41 win against Ole Miss on Jan. 29. “Like [freshman guard Jenna] Deemer mentioned, the game is over with and we move forward and we don’t look back. I dont want them to go into the Missouri game underestimating what Missouri is capable of.”
Missouri is 11th in the SEC standings and tied with LSU for eighth in the conference in scoring, averaging 64.2 points per game. Each team also allows 59.4 points per game.
Missouri is led by sophomore guard/forward Jordan Frericks, the team’s leader in scoring, steals, blocks and rebounds. She ranks second in the SEC with 9.8 rebounds per game.
LSU junior guard Danielle Ballard said she and her teammates will continue to keep up their defensive intensity, which has kept them moving through their tough conference schedule.
“[Caldwell] always says that defense wins games, and that’s one thing that I am good at, which is stealing balls,” Ballard said. “It happens with all the deflections and going and getting that ball — that is something I’m really good at. It’s going to be hard for teams to play against us on the offensive end. That gives us a little motivation to go harder on the defensive end.”
After the win against Ole Miss, LSU will attempt to keep moving with its head down through its conference schedule, which will last throughout the remainder of the regular season.
Deemer, who scored a career-high 22 points off the bench against Ole Miss, said she and the team are taking each challenge with blinders on.
“It was a great win,” Deemer said. “But it’s over now, so we have to get prepared for the next team.”
Missouri’s roster boasts one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation, senior guard Morgan Eye. She has made the most 3-point shots in the SEC with 56 and is No. 9 in 3-point shooting percentage.
Caldwell said LSU is aware of Eye’s long-range abilities and will prepare for her by looking at its own sharpshooter, Deemer.
“They’re a team that has one of the best shooters in the country in Eye,” Caldwell said. “We feel like we’ve got one of the best shooters in the country with Deemer. You saw what she was able to do against Ole Miss. So we don’t want that to happen [against us], and we’ve got to make sure we are in tune with our defensive scheme.”
You can reach Stanton Vignes on Twitter @stanvignes_TDR.