The LSU women’s preseason schedule will begin tonight with the Lady Tigers facing off against Everyone’s Internet at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be the first of two preseason matchups before LSU begins the season Nov. 13 at Texas Tech.
Last season the Tigers had a 33-3 overall record, won the program’s first Southeastern Conference Tournament and advanced to a second straight NCAA Final Four.
The Tigers are returning nine letterwinners and have two returning starters – seniors Seimone Augustus and Scholanda Hoston.
Coach Pokey Chatman said the team can learn a lot during the exhibition.
“A lot of people look at the exhibition games and think they don’t count,” Chatman said in a news release. “But in a coach’s mind, they are the games that count the most. This game is a segue into what is next and what is going to count in terms of the season.”
Augustus is coming off a season in which she earned National Player of the Year. Augustus averaged 20.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in leading LSU to the Final Four.
LSU will also feature a new face tonight in sophomore guard Khalilah Mitchell. Sophomore Sylvia Fowles and senior Florence Williams round out the probable starters.
Williams averaged 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last season, while Fowles, a preseason All-SEC selection, averaged 11.8 points and a team-high 9.0 rebounds per contest last year.
“We are looking at this game as a gauge to see where we are in terms of what was lost last year and how and who we are going to replace that with,” Chatman said.
LSU lost seniors Temeka Johnson, Wendlyn Johnson and Tillie Willis. Johnson, the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year, averaged 9.3 points and 5.2 assists for the Washington Mystics.
Contact Jeff Sentell at [email protected]
Lady Tigers begin 2005-06 season tonight
November 2, 2005