The last time the LSU women’s basketball team was scheduled to play on the first day of the Southeastern Conference tournament in 2001, gas prices averaged $1.70 a gallon.
Talk about ancient history.
A streak of nine consecutive seasons playing later in the tournament will be snapped Thursday when LSU, a No. 7 seed, faces No. 10-seed Alabama in Nashville, Tenn., 211 miles from Memphis, where the Lady Tigers played on day one of the SEC tournament in 2001.
LSU coach Van Chancellor said having that first-round bye has its pros and cons. Earning a bye did not help last season, as Vanderbilt ousted LSU in the second round, 63-61.
“A bye is great, but sometimes not having a bye is an advantage,” Chancellor said. “You get to play earlier, and you get to get used to the newness of it. I thought last year having a bye might have hurt us against Vanderbilt. I’d rather have a bye because you don’t have a chance to lose a game, but this is the bracket.”
If LSU wins Thursday, it will face No. 2-seed Kentucky in the second round. Winning just one game in the SEC tournament might be enough to vault LSU into the NCAA tournament for the 13th-straight season, but winning two or three would give the Lady Tigers a better shot.
LSU will have to rely on its defense to propel it further into the postseason, of which junior forward LaSondra Barrett said the team is well aware.
“We’re a defensive team, and that’s our identity,” Barrett said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not enough. But I don’t think we should just focus all on shooting. Defense is our backbone.”
Barrett padded her LSU résumé Tuesday when she earned Coaches’ first-team All-SEC honors. She is No. 6 in rebounding with 7.5 per game in conference play, and tied for No. 13 in scoring with 12.6 points per game.
Senior guard Katherine Graham was also named to the SEC All-Defensive Team. Her 47 steals (1.5 per game) in conference play rank tied for No. 13.
“I just committed to it … going in doing extra footwork, losing body fat and taking extra defensive conditioning very seriously,” Graham said.
 
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Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]