The LSU women’s basketball team (23-10) has a chance for its last home game of the season to be especially sweet in today’s NCAA tournament second-round matchup against No. 11 Penn State (25-6) at 8:40 p.m.
The Lady Tigers can earn their first Sweet 16 appearance since the 2008 season, when they lost to Tennessee in the Final Four.
But the NCAA tournament’s second round hasn’t been kind to LSU in recent seasons, as it was bounced in the second round in its last two tournament appearances.
“We’re not really concentrating on getting to the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight,” said senior forward Courtney Jones. “In the past, when we have made it to the tournament, we haven’t been able to get past this little dead patch right here.”
Even first-year LSU coach Nikki Caldwell has been bitten by the second-round bug. Caldwell took her last two UCLA teams to the NCAA tournament, and each lost in the second round.
But whatever happened in the past doesn’t bother Caldwell or her team.
“The thing that we talked about is what you can control,” Caldwell said. “We don’t put a lot of emphasis on the past. … It’s one game at a time.”
The Lady Tigers got their first game out of the way without a hitch, as they rallied in the final 10 minutes Sunday to secure a relatively comfortable 64-56 win against No. 12-seed San Diego State on Sunday.
But LSU has a daunting task ahead of it in Penn State. The Lady Lions raced to an 85-77 win against No. 13-seed UTEP just hours before LSU took the court Sunday.
The high-flying effort wasn’t an anomaly – Penn State averaged 75.8 points per game this season on its way to winning the Big Ten regular season title.
The Lady Tigers have had their ups and downs against fast-paced, offensive attacks this season. LSU held its opponents to just 53.1 points per game this season, using its length to slow down opposing attacks.
“We want to dictate our tempo, keep them in the 50s or 60s if we can,” said senior forward LaSondra Barrett. “They’re a high-scoring team … so I think that’s going to be very important.”
All Barrett has to do is look at LSU’s schedule to see how important defense has been to the team this season.
The Lady Tigers have only allowed 70 or more points four times this year, and lost each of those games by at least nine points.
“We want to play a fast pace, so we have to make sure that we’re taking advantage of opportunities to run, and that we’re getting out and pushing the pace,” said Penn State coach Coquese Washington. “We have to make sure we do that every time that we have those opportunities.”
The Lady Lions feature two dynamic scorers at guard in sophomore Maggie Lucas and junior Alex Bentley. The duo combined to score 33.7 points per game this season and torched UTEP for 44 points on Sunday.
Caldwell is especially concerned about Lucas, who, at 5-foot-11, presents a unique challenge for LSU.
“We’re going to have to [defend Lucas] by committee,” Caldwell said. “You can’t just shut down a player like her just by one defender. You have to make sure that you’re doing different things that make it difficult for her to get the basketball.”
Win or lose, Tuesday will mark the last time five seniors take the PMAC floor.
“I haven’t really thought about it too much,” Jones said. “I don’t want to accept the fact that I have to go on and find something else to do.”
 
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