On Saturday the Lady Tigers (27-3, 14-1) will square off against the Florida Atlantic Owls (20-10, 16-4) in the opening round of the 2006 women’s NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Tigers will enter the game after a 63-62 loss to Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference tournament title game. But Athletics Director Skip Bertman tried not to let the loss linger into the tournament when he “flushed” it away with a miniature toilet at the team’s Selection Monday gathering.
“The flushing was quite appropriate,” LSU coach Pokey Chatman said. “It’s just that it sounds so much better coming from your [Athletics Director]”
The Lady Tigers’ main defensive task will be to slow down Owl senior and Atlantic Sun Conference tournament MVP Shontavia Williams, who has averaged 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Williams will be a familiar face to Miami-area Lady Tigers and Edison High school alumnae Scholanda Hoston, Florence Williams and Sylvia Fowles, as she faced all three in high school while playing at Miami-Jackson High.
LSU last faced FAU on Nov. 11, 2002, as LSU recorded a 88-55 victory.
While the Lady Tigers will be focused on getting back to the Final Four and winning the national title, the Owls and coach Chancellor Dugan have a different outlook.
“We’re just happy we are playing in Nashville,” Dugan said in a news release. “We have a lot of friends and family that will be able to make it there to support our team.”
The chances of FAU winning against the No. 1-seed Lady Tigers are slim, but both Williams and Seimone Augustus have tips that would help stop them.
The defensive plan starts with Augustus. The guard leads the nation in scoring at 23 points per game
“I’ll just try to limit my touches as much as possible,” Augustus said. “Once you get the ball in my hands, it’s going to be difficult. So I would just make sure I didn’t touch the ball at all.”
Augustus said a team could try to get Fowles to switch defensive positions and have her pick up fouls. But if a team does this, Augustus said, it takes its chances that guard Erica White cannot beat them shooting the ball. Augustus admitted neither option is very likely.
Williams said she believes that as well as playing the best game they can, opponents should try to do something different defensively.
“I would play some type of zone against us,” Williams said after a long pause to gather her thoughts. “There are times when we struggle against zone defenses, so I’d start with that.”
Forcing turnovers is another good idea for LSU’s opponents. In the Lady Tigers’ three losses this season, the opposing team has forced a combined 48 turnovers, limiting the offensive touches the Lady Tigers received.
 
 
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