DALLAS — LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Fargas mingled with fans and media for hours on Saturday ahead of LSU football’s first game of the season at AT&T Stadium. Fargas gave her first impressions of her team going into the new season.
After a first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament, LSU coach Nikki Fargas hopes to bounce back with a reloaded offense. 
Fargas and the women’s basketball team lost two of its biggest offensive threats in Raigyne Louis and Chloe Jackson, but Fargas has high hopes for the combined talents of the newcomers and returnees. 
Junior college transfers add depth to guard play
There are no freshmen coming into the 2018-19 season, but Fargas signed three junior college transfers to the roster: Mercedes Brooks, Karli Seay and LaToya Ashman. 

“Mercedes comes from Trinity Valley, one of the best junior college programs in the country,” Fargas said. “She has a work ethic that is like none other. She’s somebody that can play multiple positions and we’re going to count on her to do so.”
Fargas emphasized the teams need to have guards that can contribute on the perimeter. Both Seay and Ashman have the ability to make an impact as scorers this season and give the Tigers a more balanced attack. 

“Those two kids can really stretch the defense, they can knock down threes,” Fargas said. “That’s only going to help because last year we were zoned quite a bit, more than I thought we would be. We’re just going to build off of our ability to knock down threes. Last year we were making four a game — now we want to get to six or seven a game.”
Front court returning, leading the team
Last season, the tone was set by the power of LSU’s guard play. That is expected to change this season with a limited number of experienced guards to lead the way. 
Fargas expects guards Khayla Pointer and Jaelyn Richard-Harris to hold down the point guard position and lead by example, but the energy is going to come from the post. LSU returns its entire front court, including junior forward Ayana Mitchell, sophomore forward Raven Farley and sophomore center Faustine Aifuwa.

“The team has got to all collectively be on the same page,” Fargas said. “They all have to believe in one another and support one another and know that no one person can do it by themselves.”