After romping to victory over Cal Poly Mustangs on Sunday night, the third-seeded Lady Lions moved on to the second round of the NCAA tournament. They will face the six-seeded LSU Tigers tonight, for the second year in a row, in Baton Rouge, La.
This season, the Tigers went 21-11 (10-6 in the SEC) with notable wins against Georgia and Kentucky. On Sunday night, LSU defeated the Green Bay Phoenix, 75-71, with four of its players scoring in double figures. Green Bay was ranked throughout the season and ended with a 29-3 record. Sunday night’s loss was the team’s first since December 5.
LSU is led by Theresa Plaisance who had 16 points on Sunday. Plaisance averages 17.3 points per game. Teammate Adrienne Webb averages 14.2 points per game.
The key for the Lady Lions will be to, once again, rely heavily on their post game. Penn State’s rebounding margin is 5.2 to LSU’s 1.4. Coming off of a solid post game on Sunday night, with 54 rebounds, head coach Coquese Washington will look to her squad for second-chance shots and offensive rebounding. In addition, Penn State beats out LSU in 3-point percentage, so relying on Maggie Lucas and Alex Bentley for their 3-point game will be crucial.
Last year fourth-seeded Penn State used a late run to beat the fifth-seeded Tigers in the second round, 90-80. Penn State looks to make it happen again on Tuesday night. The game will be aired on ESPN2 at 9:45 p.m. ET.
image Steve Osborn
