LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell will continue to use the “bigger lineup” when the Lady Tigers travel to Missouri for a Thursday night matchup.
The lineup includes 6-foot-4 junior center/forward Shanece McKinney. LSU has out-rebounded all four of its opponents, a statistic Caldwell said is key since McKinney ent
LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell will continue to use the “bigger lineup” when the Lady Tigers travel to Missouri for a Thursday night matchup.
The lineup includes 6-foot-4 junior center/forward Shanece McKinney. LSU has out-rebounded all four of its opponents, a statistic Caldwell said is key since McKinney entered the starting line.
Caldwell said she switched to the new lineup to match other conference teams’ post-play, but McKinney’s presence also allows junior forward Theresa Plaisance to take advantage of her height.
With McKinney in the game, LSU (15-10, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) can run high-low plays, Plaisance can guard jump shots and 3-pointers and smaller forwards are forced to guard Plaisance, creating a good mismatch for the SEC’s leading scorer.
Missouri (15-11, 4-8 SEC) has won only four SEC games, but Caldwell said that won’t make a difference Thursday night.
“It means absolutely nothing,” she said. “We cannot allow them to have straight open looks at the basket. … They’re a team that’s very smart.”
Caldwell said the team needs to be aware of Missouri’s 3-point shooting, which accounts for 38 percent of its offense.
Missouri sophomore guard Morgan Eye, who leads the SEC in 3-pointers made, has attempted 234 3-point shots this season while only attempting 31 twos. Eye hit six of the team’s 11 threes in its 80-63 win against Tennessee on Feb. 3.
“When they’re hitting threes, it’s going to be a long night,” Caldwell said. “We’re going to really have our work cut out for us as far as contesting threes.”
Looking forward, Caldwell said the Lady Tigers need to make a “strong push” down the stretch of their last four games and let the conference standings fall where they will.
“When you have a team fighting for a spot, a seed, a potential nod in the tournament, it’s going to come down to who’s going to
execute their game plan to the best of their ability,” Caldwell said.
ered the starting line.
Caldwell said she switched to the lineup to match other conference teams’ post-play, but McKinney’s presence also allows junior forward Theresa Plaisance to take advantage of her height.
With McKinney in the game, LSU (15-10, 6-6 Southeastern Conference) can run high-low plays, Plaisance can guard jump shots and 3-pointers and smaller forwards are forced to guard Plaisance, creating a good mismatch for the SEC’s leading scorer.
Missouri (15-11, 4-8 SEC) has won only four SEC games, but Caldwell said that won’t make a difference Thursday night.
“It means absolutely nothing,” she said. “We cannot allow them to have straight open looks at the basket … They’re a team that’s very smart.”
Caldwell said the team needs to be aware of Missouri’s 3-point shooting, which accounts for 38 percent of its offense.
Sophomore guard Morgan Eye, who leads the SEC in 3-pointers made, has attempted 234 3-point shots this season while only attempting 31 twos. Eye hit six of the her team’s 11 threes in Missouri’s 80-63 win against Tennessee on Feb. 3.
“When they’re hitting threes its going to be a long night,” Caldwell said. “We’re going to really have our work cut out for us as far as contesting threes.”
Looking forward, Caldwell said the Lady Tigers need to make a “strong push” down the stretch of their last four games and let the conference standings fall where they will.
“When you have a team fighting for a spot, a seed, a potential nod in the tournament, it’s going to come down to who’s going to execute their game plan to the best of their ability,” Caldwell said.
