LSU women’s basketball prepares to take the road for the final time of the regular season on Thursday.
The Tigers will travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.
The Commodores have had a tough season, sitting in 11th place in the SEC with a 12-16 overall record, and a 3-11 SEC record.
Ciaja Harbison leads Vanderbilt in scoring with 19.4 points per game. To put this in perspective, she’d be LSU’s second-leading scorer if she was on the team.
She’s also second in the SEC in points per game below Angel Reese and is third in the SEC in assists per game at 4.4.
Harbison isn’t the only one to worry about for the Commodores. Marnelle Garraud and Sacha Washington all average in double figures for points per game. If the Tigers can contain Harbison, Garraud and Washington, they can certainly handle the workload.
Garraud especially is capable of putting points on the board for the Commodores. She leads the SEC in three-pointers made per game with 2.8. The guards have to contain Harbison and Garraud from getting hot from the field, especially from behind the three-point line.
Washington leads Vanderbilt in rebounds per game with 7.4, so both Reese and LaDazhia Williams will have to defend here heavily so that LSU isn’t allowing Vanderbilt too many second-chance buckets.
On the contrary, Jasmine Carson is coming off of a career-high performance of 25 points with seven made three-pointers. Making sure she stays consistent as the post-season gets closer will be something head coach Kim Mulkey and the team hopes to see.
LSU has to come out with energy and with a fast start on Thursday in order to secure the win. In situations like these, however, a lockdown defense is a must.
The Commodores are very similar to LSU in that they roll with whatever is working in the given day. If they can get their points down low, they will, and if the three-point shot is hitting, they’ll keep shooting for it.
Teams like these can be dangerous because they are well-rounded. This is partially why LSU has done so well. They’ve been able to depend on Reese, but Alexis Morris has also had her moments when she will shoot and make from all over the field. The difference is that SEC teams have been able to contain Vanderbilt easier.
But the Tigers should not come into the matchup underestimating Vanderbilt.
On paper, Vanderbilt is a team with very little to lose. That could be a dangerous mentality to come into a matchup with LSU, a team with seemingly everything to lose. When LSU faced Georgia, for example, Georgia knew it was the underdog, and embraced it. The Bulldogs ended up taking LSU into overtime at the PMAC.
The Commodores can clearly put points on the board when needed, and LSU giving them that chance could lead to disaster for the Tigers. In February, anything can happen, and to think of a game as a guaranteed win would be a mistake for any team at this point in the season.
