The last two games of the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball season are must-wins for teams hovering around the .500 mark.
Only four SEC women’s basketball teams from 1998-09 have made it to the NCAA tournament with a conference record below .500.
The No. 20 LSU (18-8, 7-7) women’s basketball team can bolster its resumé with a win against possible-spoiler Arkansas (12-15, 4-10) tonight at 8 p.m. in the PMAC for the Lady Tigers’ second to last game of the regular season.
“We know the last two [games] are crucial for us,” said sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett. “We’re not thinking win the last two. We’re thinking [about] Arkansas.”
The last time the Lady Tigers failed to make the NCAA tournament was the 1997-98 season.
LSU currently sits in fifth place in the SEC.
“We need to close this season playing well,” said LSU coach Van Chancellor. “It’s a big game for us.”
The top four conference teams receive a bye in the SEC tournament, which begins March 4 in Duluth, Ga.
“The bye’s important,” Chancellor said. “When you play another game, you have a chance to lose another game. More important than a bye is how your team is playing.”
Both LSU and Arkansas were riding three-game winning streaks before their most recent games.
LSU rolled past Florida, Auburn and Vanderbilt but then fell to Tennessee on Monday night, 70-61.
Arkansas lost to Alabama, 69-58, Sunday after beating Auburn, South Carolina and Ole Miss in its three previous competitions.
“Arkansas is probably one of the most dangerous teams [in the SEC],” Chancellor said. “They’ve played really well lately. They are very capable.”
Chancellor said the Lady Tigers still have momentum, even after the defeat to the Volunteers.
“We still have our confidence up,” Chancellor said. “Our team feels good about itself.”
The last matchup between LSU and Arkansas took place Jan. 7 at Bud Walton Arena, where the Lady Tigers stuck it to the Razorbacks, 65-38, as four Lady Tigers scored in double figures.
“We played them so long ago,” Chancellor said. “That game has no bearing on this one.”
LSU has seen success when scoring is spread among three or more players. Four Lady Tigers recorded double-digit scoring nights in going-away victories against No. 25 Vanderbilt and Florida, compared to an overtime loss to No. 24 Georgia where only senior guard Allison Hightower recorded more than six points.
And junior guard Katherine Graham has become a third offensive option for LSU. Graham scored 13 points at Tennessee on Monday and 15 points on Feb. 18 against Vanderbilt.
“We’ve had to find a third scorer, and I think we found one in Katherine Graham,” Chancellor said. “We’ve got to have her step up and assert herself on offense.”
LSU and Arkansas are on opposite ends of the SEC spectrum in scoring defense. The Lady Tigers are No. 1 in the conference, giving up 51.9 points per game, while the Razorbacks are ranked last, allowing 67.3 points.
“We can’t worry about any of that,” Hightower said. “They don’t have any pressure on them. We can’t take them lightly at all.”
Three Razorbacks average in double figures — senior guard Charity Ford and sophomore guards Lyndsay Harris and C’eira Ricketts.
Ricketts and Barrett were SEC Co-Freshmen of the Year in 2008-09. They also were teammates on the gold medal winning U.S. U19 team this past summer.
“It’s a rivalry when we play each other, but when we were together [on the national team], we stuck together,” Barrett said. “She wants to beat us so bad.”
Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]