LSU women’s basketball is coming off their biggest win of the season at home against Tennessee Monday night. But the road doesn’t get easier from here. 

The Tigers are set to take on Georgia Thursday night at 7 p.m. While the Bulldogs aren’t the best in the SEC, sitting with a 15-8 overall record and a 4-5 conference record, a Tigers’ win is not guaranteed. The most anticipated game of the season against South Carolina is getting closer, and the Tigers must stay within themselves and still take their season one game at a time.

The Bulldogs are led by a pair of seniors in guard, Diamond Battles, and forward, Brittney Smith. Battles leads the team with 13.9 points per game, and Smith is right behind with 11.9. In their last seven games, either Battles or Smith led the team in points.

Containing Battles and Smith early will be a priority for LSU, because they will take the majority of the shots for Georgia.

That being said, it will be a battle in the paint, as the Bulldogs don’t shoot many threes. It’s matchups like these where the Tigers are glad to have Angel Reese and LaDazhia Williams, who have been dominant down low.

However, in Georgia’s last two games, they’ve made six three-pointers as a team. In its last seven games before those, the Bulldogs made at most four per game. So while the Bulldogs are expected to rely on how they can shoot from inside the perimeter, they may be starting to gain confidence in their three-point shot.

Coinciding with that, the Bulldogs won their last two games, including against Missouri, a team LSU has played. Georgia will come in with confidence and will embrace their underdog label.

Thursday night’s matchup will be an opportunity for the Tigers to get better and prepare for South Carolina. It will be a game where they can get their confidence up and continue to solidify themselves. 

At the same time, LSU has to focus on the task at hand, and take care of business to keep going strong.