Let the madness begin.
The LSU women’s basketball team, along with hundreds of fans, packed the PMAC Sunday afternoon, awaiting what seeding and region the Tigers would receive during Selection Sunday.
Finishing the year 27-5, LSU earned the No. 2 seed in the Sacramento Region 2 and will face No. 15-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins, the winner of the Atlantic Sun Conference, on Friday.
It’s the first time LSU has earned a No. 2 seed under head coach Kim Mulkey and the first time the program has done so since 2008.
The PMAC will be a host site in the first two rounds of the tournament due to LSU receiving a top-four seed in its region.
The winner of the LSU-Jacksonville game will advance to the second round to face the winner of No. 7 seed Texas Tech and No. 10 seed Villanova.
Taking the title of the top team of the region is the UCLA Bruins, who earned the No. 1 seed and were ranked as the No. 2 overall seed in the entire tournament.
That’s just one of the obstacles that LSU will face if it wants to reach Phoenix. Also in LSU’s region are the No. 3 seed Duke Blue Devils, whom the Tigers beat earlier this season by 16 points on Dec. 4, and the Minnesota Gophers as the No. 4 seed.
An interesting team in LSU’s region is the No. 6 seed Baylor Bears, the program Mulkey coached before coming to LSU. The two teams would meet in the Sweet 16 if both teams make it that far.
At the five seed is another SEC team, the Ole Miss Rebels. The Tigers beat Ole Miss earlier in the year, and it took a 13-point comeback to secure the win on the road.
The Tigers ended their season having won five of their last six games before losing to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament semifinal eight days ago.
LSU will be leaning on its veterans to lead the way for this year’s tournament in Flau’jae Johnson, Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley.
Johnson played poorly against the Gamecocks with only six points, but she will be relied on if the Tigers want to compete for a championship.
The former national champion has not missed an NCAA Tournament throughout her four-year tenure with LSU and is no stranger to the big games.
Through four tournament games last year, Johnson averaged 16.5 points while shooting 50% from the field and 46% from three, including a 28-point performance against UCLA in the Elite Eight.
Fulwiley ended the season leading LSU in scoring and averaged 21.3 points across the final six games, including a 24-point game against South Carolina in the semifinals.
It’ll be the first time that Fulwiley will enter the tournament as part of the Tigers team.
Williams comes in as the team’s third leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points per game, and it’ll be her third consecutive tournament appearance.
Last year in the tournament, Williams averaged 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and three assists while shooting 50% from the field and 46% from three.
