The Georgia women’s basketball team seemed nearly invincible through its first 16 games this season.
The No. 14 Lady Bulldogs (18-4, 5-4) set a school record for wins to start a season and did not lose their first game until three weeks ago — a 66-44 road loss to Vanderbilt — and they have since lost three straight and four of six overall.
The No. 19 LSU Lady Tigers (15-5, 4-4) will try to extend Georgia’s losing streak tonight at 6 p.m. in Athens, Ga.
LSU averages 50.4 points allowed per game, No. 1 in the Southeastern Conference and No. 3 in the nation. Georgia is No. 2 in the SEC and No. 13 nationally in scoring defense, allowing 54 points per game.
LSU coach Van Chancellor said attacking the Lady Bulldogs’ defense on the road will be a tall task.
“Georgia is going to be a heck of a test,” Chancellor said. “Georgia has the best defensive team I’ve seen them have in the last five or six years.”
Georgia coach Andy Landers said his team lost some of its defensive success during its losing skid, during which the Lady Bulldogs are allowing their opponents to score 69 points and shoot 42.2 percent from the floor. LSU’s offense is averaging 70 points and 42 percent shooting per game.
“The first thing we need to focus on is what was so very good to us throughout the first half of the season, which was our defense,” Landers said in a news release. “We played it with a much greater intent and better focus. LSU has set the bar defensively in the conference for the last three or four years.”
LSU senior guard Allison Hightower said the Lady Tigers are expecting a heavy dose of zone defense from Georgia.
“They’re going to be aggressive and get to the boards,” Hightower said. “We’ve seen on the scouting report that Georgia plays a lot of zone this year. They do play some man, but we’ll prepare for both.”
This is the second-straight year LSU will travel to Athens. LSU is 6-2 on the road this season and has won eight of the past nine games in the series.
Ashley Houts, Georgia’s starting point guard, has led the SEC in minutes played per game the past two seasons. The senior is currently third in the category with 35 minutes per game, but she sprained her left ankle against Tennessee on Jan. 21.
Landers said Houts will be a game-time decision tonight.
“Ashley has a sprained ankle, and it’s a pretty good sprain,” he said. “She will not practice this week, but she will be available to play in games. We’ll continue that until it’s in her best interest to do more.”
The Georgia game will be a high school reunion of sorts for LSU sophomore forward Courtney Jones and Georgia sophomore guard Meredith Mitchell. Both Jones and Mitchell attended Midfield High School in Midfield, Ala., and helped the team to a 32-1 record and a second-straight Alabama 4A State Championship in their senior season.
Jones earned her seventh start of the season this past Sunday in LSU’s 78-41 win against Alabama that snapped its own two-game losing streak.
“Georgia is very aggressive and really works hard to pressure us on defense,” Jones said. “They take good shots, so we have to come out and play smart and be patient.”
 
—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]