The Lady Tigers once again proved that the phrase “home sweet home” reigns true in the SEC. After losing to No. 22 Tennessee 63-58 on Sunday, LSU fell to 4-3 in conference play. Three of the Tigers’ four SEC wins have come at home, while all three losses have come on the road.
LSU Senior forward Ayana Mitchell had 24 points and 12 rebounds to pick up her 36^th career double-double. Junior guard Khayla Pointer also had 12 points and added three steals on the defensive side of the ball for the Tigers. Although LSU as a team out-rebounded the Volunteers 45-32, it proved futile as Tennessee had an answer for every Tigers run throughout the game. Forward Rennia Davis had a game-high 30 points for Tennessee and added eight rebounds as the Volunteers in improved to 16-4 on the year.
Although her team lost, LSU head coach Nikki Fargas was hopeful about the future for her team.
“I like that we have that fight in us, I just want us to have that fight and be able to have this game in our reach like we did but it needs to be for forty-minutes,” Fargas said. “I keep saying that this is a forty-minute game and I felt like we had some defensive (drop-off) which allowed them to score.”
The Tigers have nine games left on the schedule, four of which currently feature ranked teams. This includes No. 1 South Carolina on February 20 in Columbia. Of those nine games, five are at home in the PMAC and two are against ranked teams, No. 15 Texas A&M on February 2 and No. 22 Tennessee on February 13.
In terms of SEC standings outside of the Tigers, South Carolina sits atop at 7-0 in conference play as well as being the top team in the country according to the polls.
No. 9 Mississippi State and No. 22 Tennessee are tied for second, both sitting at 6-1 in SEC play. The Tigers lost to these two teams 64-60 and 63-58, respectively.
No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 13 Kentucky sit tied at third, both being 5-2 versus conference opponents. LSU beat both these teams, 57-54 against the Aggies and 65-59 versus the Wildcats.
No. 25 Arkansas and LSU are tied at fourth, both being 4-3 in SEC play. The Tigers’ last game of the season will be against the Razorbacks on March 1 in Fayetteville.
The rest of the standings are then rounded out by Georgia (3-4), Alabama, Florida and Vanderbilt all sit at 2-5, Auburn (1-6) and Ole Miss (0-7).
LSU’s next game will be on Thursday in Gainesville, Florida against the Gators at 5 p.m. on the SEC Network.