The Lady Tigers basketball squad has become accustomed to being on the road.
This time LSU will just visit a different part of the country.
LSU (No. 12, Associated Press) will take its 1-1 record to University Park, Pa. where it will face the No. 9 Penn State Lady Lions at 6 p.m. local time tonight. It will be the opening game of Penn State’s season.
Prior to the Penn State tip, LSU’s last six games were on the West Coast.
The Lady Tigers are trying to rebound from a 76-67 defeat at the hands of tournament host and champion Oregon in the Women’s Sports Foundation Classic Championship Game last Sunday.
“For one, I don’t like losing,” said point guard Temeka Johnson. “They weren’t even ranked. We didn’t look like we were playing for the championship game.”
Most LSU players were disgusted to take home second place, an attitude coach Sue Gunter said she wanted.
“I loved it,” Gunter said. “I didn’t want any part with the second place trophy.”
The bigger issue for the Lady Tigers is coming together. With the departure of several key parts of last year’s Elite Eight team and the infusion of several new players, it has been tough to get on the same page when on the court, according to Johnson.
“We have a lot of chemistry issues to deal with,” she said.
Gunter said team chemistry will evolve since the players have good attitudes.
“We like what we see down the road,” she said. “All the players having to step up are going to be much better in January and February.”
LSU will have a daunting task against the Lady Lions – stopping guard Kelly Mazzante.
Mazzante, an All-American who scored 29 points in Penn State’s only exhibition game, averaged 23.9 points per game last season. She is just 16 points short of becoming PSU’s all-time leading scorer.
Penn State did not lose anybody from last year’s 26-9 team.
“She’s an all-around player,” said forward Seimone Augustus, who leads LSU at 20.5 points per game. “I look at her as another [Connecticut University guard] Diana Taurasi.”
Gunter said Mazzante is probably near Taurasi’s class in terms of being an offensive threat.
“Mazzante probably is the best offensive player in the country as far as a pure shooter,” Gunter said. “There’s not one part of her offensive game she doesn’t do well.”
In last year’s meeting at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, LSU held Mazzante to 13 points in an 80-63 victory. Guard Doneeka Hodges guarded Mazzante, but Gunter also attributed the great defensive job to Mazzante being in foul trouble and good on-ball defensive pressure.
“We had great pressure on the ball,” Gunter said. “They do a great job of trying to get her the ball.”
Johnson agreed and said the Lady Tigers must try to limit Mazzante’s touches.
“Mazzante is the focal point, but someone has to pass her the ball,” she said.
An MRI revealed starting post player Tillie Willis has a partially torn meniscus in her knee. Willis was injured in the Tigers’ second game against Oregon. She did practice on Wednesday, but probably will not start. Freshman forward Hanna Biernacka will make her first career start in her place. “She worked some in practice and looked good,” Gunter said. “We’re not going to be careless. We’ll see how she feels when we get to Penn State.”