For the LSU women’s basketball team, the NCAA Tournament is a new beginning.
“Everybody starts over,” LSU coach Nikki Fargas said. “Everyone is undefeated going into NCAA play. There’s just more at stake because if you lose you go home … the opportunity, though, to have your name called says a lot about the body of work you’ve done leading up to this point.”
The Lady Tigers (20-11, 8-8 Southeastern Conference) earned the No. 8 seed and will play against No. 9 seed California in the first round at 8 p.m. on Saturday in the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
If the Lady Tigers win they will move on to compete against the winner between No. 1 seed Baylor and No. 16 seed Texas Southern.
LSU has played in the NCAA Tournament 25 times, with five appearances under Fargas as coach.
LSU did not get picked to play in the tournament last season after the Lady Tigers finished the year with a 10-21 overall record and 3-13 SEC record.
For senior guard Jasmine Rhodes, it is her third time competing nationally, along with senior and junior guards Rina Hill and Raigyne Moncrief.
Rhodes said it’s time for the team to put its “best foot forward.”
“Basketball is a game of run so we’re going to try to make the best run we can this tournament,” Rhodes said. “We have nothing to lose. This is a new season. Everyone has the same record, zero and zero.”
The trip is a first for freshman forward Ayana Mitchell and she said she’s ready to put it all on the court, she said.
“It’s not enough just to make it to the tournament,” Mitchell said. “We also want to make some noise … we’re going to continue to practice hard.”
The Lady Tigers go into the NCAA Tournament with the 2017 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, Moncrief. She leads the team in points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game and steals per game in the SEC. She also ranks fifth in the country with 106 steals.
Senior forward Alexis Hyder leads the team in blocks per game with an average of 0.8.
Hyder said both the team’s losses and victories will help prepare them for what’s next.
The Texas native will be back home to compete in the NCAA tournament.
“It’s time to utilize all the things that we’ve learned,” Hyder said.