Of the 16 trips the LSU Lady Tigers basketball team have taken to face the Tennessee Lady Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena, they have returned with a grand total of zero victories.
In their last 22 regular season Southeastern Conference games, the Lady Tigers have zero losses.
Tonight in Knoxville, Tenn., one of the streaks must end as the Lady Tigers (20-1, 8-0) tip off against Tennessee (21-2, 7-1) at 6 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
“It’s another road game, except we’ll be in Knoxville in front of 20-plus thousand going against one of the best teams in the country,” LSU coach Pokey Chatman said in a news release. “It’s going to be a battle. Tennessee’s playing well, and we’ve been playing well as of late. This game is going to boil down to 40 minutes of execution.”
Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt believes Tennessee’s dedicated fans will again be in full effect tonight.
“We are expecting a great crowd,” Summitt said in a press conference. “Obviously we have had some great games. It has clearly become a great rivalry for us in this league, and our fans are certainly aware of it.”
Chatman also acknowledged the large Tennessee fan base and said she believes it will make for a great atmosphere.
But Chatman said she knows they will not be a factor in this game if her team does not let them.
“It’s a great environment for women’s basketball,” Chatman said. “It’s exciting, and I think it’s what some of these players sign up for in terms of the level of competition and the excitement surrounding women’s basketball. It has to be a plus for the home team, but in terms of our execution, it will go a long way in how much the crowd is on their feet or sitting down.”
In the last match-up of the two rivals, Tennessee snapped LSU’s 16-game SEC winning streak with a 67-65 victory in the SEC tournament championship game last season.
The Lady Tigers suffered an 85-62 setback in which they shot only 36 percent from the field and were outscored by 15 points in the second half.
“The main thing is to focus on what we’ve been doing well and try to do it better and just try to neutralize some of their players,” Chatman said. “It’s just not one of those things where you can stop a Tennessee team – you have to pick your spots in terms of your base defense and creating difficult situations for them.”
In an attempt to elude some of those situations, Summitt said she has given thought to a lineup change against the Lady Tigers that could include switching the offensive duties of redshirt freshman Candace Parker.
The 6-foot-3-inch Parker is the leading scorer for the Lady Vols, averaging 15.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in her first season.
“We are considering moving Candace [Parker] to the four spot, but we have not really decided yet,” Summitt said.
“We need to decide if we want Sidney Spencer in the lineup and leave Tye’sha Fluker where she is. Regardless of how we start, those are considerations as the game goes on.”
 
Contact Jeff Martin at [email protected]