Senior night for the LSU women’s basketball team at the PMAC is scheduled for tonight, the final home game of the season, but the Lady Tigers are fighting for another chance to play in front of the home crowd.
LSU hosts No. 24 Vanderbilt (20-7, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) tonight at 8 p.m. in the Lady Tigers’ (19-8, 9-5 SEC) penultimate game and final regular-season contest at the PMAC.
After finishing last season with a 19-8, 8-8 SEC record, LSU didn’t receive an NCAA postseason bid. The Lady Tigers are striving to avoid a similar fate, especially because the PMAC will host the first and second rounds of this season’s tournament.
“You don’t want that feeling again,” said senior forward LaSondra Barrett. “We’re playing with even more hunger because we want to get in that tournament, and we want to play on our home floor.”
Barrett, along with senior forwards Courtney Jones, Taylor Turnbow, Swayze Black and injured guard Destini Hughes, will be honored prior to tonight’s matchup.
“It’s been a long four years, and we’ve grown together,” Barrett said. “We’re just going to cherish the moment.”
The Lady Tigers, 3-0 against ranked opponents at home this season, aren’t overlooking Thursday’s matchup against the Commodores, who bested LSU, 81-72, on Jan. 29 in Nashville, Tenn.
“They played with great intensity and effort at their home court, so we’re trying to match that here,” Jones said. “We know they’re going to come in and try to take the win from us, so we’ve just got to take care of home.”
After giving up a season-high 81 points to Vanderbilt in the team’s first meeting, LSU got back to its strengths in orchestrating a late-season five-game winning streak.
“This team is back to what the tradition and what the history of this program is about,” said LSU coach Nikki Caldwell. “It’s about us defending people, keeping people under 50 [points], and obviously rebounding the basketball.”
Caldwell said the Lady Tigers’ postseason chances are thanks in large part to the efforts of the seniors.
“We’re down to the crunch, and we understand what’s at stake,” Caldwell said. “Our seniors have been leading the attack.”
Caldwell praised Barrett in particular, who she said has done everything asked of her.
“Her teammates are really leaning on her and depending upon her, but she’s also coming through,” Caldwell said. “She’s playing like an All-American.”
Barrett, LSU’s active leader in points and rebounds, earned her sixth double-double on the season in the Lady Tigers’ most recent contest at home against Auburn, scoring 13 points and adding 10 boards.
“She’s rebounding, defending, scoring, distributing the basketball,” Caldwell said. “But most importantly, she’s being a leader.”
 
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