After a difficult stretch of games that ended with a 79-70 loss at Vanderbilt on Sunday, the LSU women’s basketball team (14-4, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) hosts Auburn (11-7, 2-3 SEC) tonight at the PMAC.
The loss to Vanderbilt snapped a three-game road winning streak for LSU and sent the team back to 6th in the SEC standings. Vanderbilt guards Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie shredded LSU’s defense for 44 points and the team fell apart in the second half, allowing 50 points.
“Looking back, we made a lot of mistakes,” said senior forward Theresa Plaisance. “There were a lot of things that we did not cover. Vandy had a lot of open looks, and there’s a lot of things that we need to fix.”
Among the five SEC games LSU has played, four have been against teams in the top half of the conference, while three of those have come on the road. Things should get easier for the Lady Tigers, as LSU’s next three opponents are all in the bottom half of the conference, and two of them are at home.
Plaisance said LSU looks at every team as a top team and opponents like Auburn can’t be taken lightly.
Plaisance will have a chance to make her mark on LSU history, as she stands just six rebounds away from 500. She became the 31st player in LSU history to score 1,000 points in last week’s victory against Missouri.
Plaisance said she never would have imagined reaching this moment after having disappointing freshman and sophomore seasons.
“My first year didn’t go the way I wanted,” Plaisance said. “My second year didn’t go the way I wanted. All my dreams and aspirations slowly kind of declined. … So being able to be in that number with such great players is quite an honor.”
Despite coming in with a losing record in the SEC, all three of their conference losses have been by less than 10 points with all of those teams residing in the top 20 of the current AP poll.
Auburn forward Tyrese Tanner leads the team, putting in 17.1 points and 6.5 rebounds a game for the season. She has been playing well as of late, averaging 19.3 points while shooting 52.4 percent from the field.
“I think she does an extremely great job at the top of their press so she can turn you over and get a couple of easy baskets,” said coach Nikki Caldwell “She can post, she’s got a face up game, she’s done a nice job establishing herself as a go-to player.”
Auburn may bring an offense only averaging 67.4 points per game, but Caldwell said the team will need to maintain focus tonight.
“After our Vanderbilt game, obviously you’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” Caldwell said. “We’ve got to be better defensively. … Our awareness must become better. We cannot lose sight of our defensive scheme, and we’ve got to go out and execute to the best of our abilities.”