In the past four seasons, the LSU women’s basketball team has won more than 120 games and has played in 20 NCAA tournament games under former coach Pokey Chatman. But the one thing that has eluded the Lady Tigers is an NCAA Championship, causing LSU to choose four-time WNBA champion Van Chancellor to lead the program following Chatman’s controversial departure this past season. Chancellor coached at Ole Miss for 19 seasons, winning more than 400 games, but he said this year’s Lady Tigers team is one of the best he has ever coached. “It is an exciting time, and I don’t know of any better time to be coaching women’s basketball at LSU with what’s going on right now,” Chancellor said. “It’s a wonderful thing. Our fan interest here has been unbelievable.” The Lady Tigers return 11 of 12 players and all five starters from this past season’s team that defeated five nationally-ranked opponents. At guard, seniors Erica White and RaShonta Leblanc are expected to start for LSU. The duo averaged 14 points and seven assists combined for LSU this past season. Sophomore guard Allison Hightower is also expected to play a large role for the Tigers off the bench. Hightower played 20 minutes per game this past season as a freshman, averaging just more than six points per game while displaying an array of shooting and off-the-dribble scoring. Hightower said she will make a bigger impact this season because of an improved shooting touch. “I’ve been working on a lot of shooting and adding different stuff to my offensive game,” Hightower said. “[Chancellor] always talks about our shooting percentages, so I want to get that number up.” Also figuring to make an impact from behind the arc is senior forward Quianna Chaney, who was the team’s second-leading scorer this past season, averaging nearly 12 points per game. Chaney shot 34 percent from downtown her junior season, a number Chancellor said he expects to rise this season. “If [Chaney] were to come in the door today, I would introduce her as the best shooter in the country,” he said. “I started out introducing her as the best shooter in the SEC. I went from the South, to the SEC to all of this area, then across this whole country.” Chaney said Chancellor’s high praise will push her to have a strong senior season. “I have to live up to [Chancellor’s prediction] now,” Chaney said. “I have to go out there and be the best shooter in America. It is going to be tough, but I have been putting in work.” Along with senior forward Ashley Thomas, LSU returns more than 20 points and 17 rebounds per game in the post area from this past season. In the paint, LSU returns arguably the best player in the NCAA: All-American senior center Sylvia Fowles. A consensus All-American, Fowles said she is ready to begin her last season as a Tiger, following a dominant junior campaign. “Everything has been going well,” Fowles said. “We get in there and we get things done. It’s a new season and a new year. There are high expectations from everyone and the team is just ready to get things rolling.” Fowles spent a large portion of her summer staying in shape, playing with the U.S. Senior National Olympic Team. “It helps because you learn from veterans,” Fowles said. “The basic things that they taught us were to communicate, pay attention and be aggressive. To be able to learn those things and bring it back to my team is always a good thing.” The Lady Tigers will play a difficult schedule this season under Chancellor, something that was a trademark of Chatman’s tenure at LSU. The Lady Tigers have road trips this season against Rutgers, Louisiana Tech and Tennessee, while also hosting Vanderbilt, Connecticut and Georgia in the PMAC. With nine seniors, Chancellor said he is very confident in his team’s ability to perform under the high expectations that await them this season. Chancellor said the real challenge begins when he loses the nine players who have been to the Final Four every year of their careers at LSU and who accounted for nearly 90 percent of the team’s scoring this past season. “I go to bed every night thinking about what a great team we’re going to have this year,” Chancellor said. “I wake up about two o’clock in the morning and think about the year after and how I can’t go back to sleep.”
—-Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]