2008-009 LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Five Straight NCAA Final Fours • 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 • Three SEC Championships • 2005, 2006, 2008 SCHEDULE/RESULTS GAME 16 NOVEMBER 5 Loyola-New Orleans + W, 68-50 LSU Lady Tigers 11 Houston Jags + W, 68-30 (9-6, 2-1 SEC) 16 #16/14 Notre Dame ^ (ESPN2) L, 52-63 LSU LADY TIGERS MISSISSIPPI STATE 24 Tulane (CST) W, 63-47 vs. 26 #25 Xavier L, 48-57 Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs Record: 9-6 (2-1 SEC) Record: 14-4 (2-2 SEC) 30 Middle Tennessee L, 75-79 Ranking: RV Associated Press Ranking: NR Associated Press (14-4, 2-2 SEC) NR ESPN/USA Today NR ESPN/USA Today DECEMBER Coaches Coaches 1 Texas Southern W, 61-30 Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009 • 7 p.m. CST Coach: Van Chancellor Coach: Sharon Fanning 15 Louisiana Tech (CST) W, 51-41 Maravich Center (13,472) • Baton Rouge, La. School Record: 40-12 (.769, School Record: 224-180 (14th 18 Southeastern Louisiana W, 65-40 second year) year) 20 at Centenary W, 74-31 TV: CST Career Record: 479-166 (.744, Career Record: 547-406 (33rd Announcers: Lyn Rollins (play-by-play); Victor Howell (ana- 28 Florida State (CST) L, 57-61 21st year) year) lyst) Chancellor vs. MSU: 39-1 (2-0) Fanning vs. LSU: 4-24 (0-17 at Radio: LSU Sports Radio Network; 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge JANUARY Last Game: lost at #18 MSU) and in the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net Vanderbilt, 75-67, in Nashville on Last Game: def. Kentucky, 52-45, 1 Nebraska W, 64-50 Announcers: Patrick Wright (play-by-play); Jeff Palermo Jan. 18 in Lexington on Jan. 18 3 at #1 Connecticut (CBS) L, 63-76 Satellite Feed: None 8 at Arkansas W, 62-42 11 Alabama W, 55-34 14 at New Orleans W, 67-48 LADY TIGERS SEEK TO GET BACK ON TRACK AGAINST MISSISSIPPI STATE 18 at #18 Vanderbilt L, 75-67 The LSU women's basketball team seeks to return to winning ways following a valiant effort at 18th-ranked Vanderbilt as 22 Mississippi State (CST) 7 p.m. the Lady Tigers take on Mississippi State in Southeastern Conference action at 7 p.m. CST Thursday in the Pete Maravich 25 at Kentucky Noon 29 at South Carolina 6 p.m. Assembly Center. The game will be televised live by Cox Sports Television and carried on the LSU Sports Radio Network in the Baton Rouge area on 107.3 FM. Live streaming audio is available to members of the Geaux Zone on FEBRUARY www.LSUsports.net. At halftime of Thursday's game, LSU will host the NCAA's Pinnacle of Fitness challenge program 1 Auburn (CST) 2 p.m. between Capitol Middle School and Woodlawn Middle School. The Pinnacle of Fitness challenge is an NCAA Division I 5 Arkansas (SECRN) 8 p.m. women's basketball initiative of healthy living and education that will challenge and improve individuals and their communi- 8 at Mississippi State 2 p.m. ties. The 2009 Pinnacle of Fitness challenge is expected to involve 100 middle schools in nine selected cities with 74,000 15 Florida (FSN) Noon 19 at Georgia 6 p.m. students participating. LSU (9-6, 2-1 SEC) dropped its first SEC regular season game since 2007 on Sunday against the 22 Kentucky 2 p.m. Commodores, snapping a 17-game SEC winning streak. The Lady Tigers have won four out of their last six games and 26 Tennessee (SECRN) 8 p.m. carry a nine-game SEC home winning streak into the contest. Mississippi State (14-4, 2-2) picked up a 52-45 road win at Kentucky last Sunday. The Lady Bulldogs feature one of the league's elite defenses and rank first in the SEC in blocked MARCH shots at 7.4 per game. Junior guard Alexis Rack averages 13.7 points and leads the league in made 3-point field goals (2.5 1 at Ole Miss 2 p.m. 5-8 SEC Tournament TBA per game). LSU is led by junior guard Allison Hightower, who has upped her points per game average to 14.1. That fig- 22 NCAA Tournament First Round TBA ures ranks fourth in the SEC. Hightower is first on the team in steals, field goal percentage, assists and minutes played. 24 NCAA Tournament Second Round TBA LSU still leads the league in scoring defense and is third nationally in that category allowing only 51.5 points per game. Freshman forward LaSondra Barrett brings a streak of five consecutive double-figure scoring games into Thursday night. + - denotes exhibition game Barrett is the first LSU freshman to achieve that since Sylvia Fowles did so. Barrett is averaging 16.7 points in SEC only ^ - denotes State Farm Tip-Off Classic * - denotes Southeastern Conference game games, a figure that ranks fifth-best in the league. LSU has dominated the Mississippi State series having won 17 consecu- SECRN - aired on Fox Sports Net; CST - Cox Sports tive meetings since 1995. The Lady Tigers lead the all-time series 38-4 and last lost to the Lady Bulldogs on Jan. 10, 1995. Television Mississippi State has never won in Baton Rouge and is 0-19 in its previous games in the Maravich Center. All times Central and subject to change. LSU PROBABLE STARTERS (9-6, 2-1 SEC) G 3 Latear Eason 5-8 So. 3.2 ppg 1.7 rpg 2.0 apg BY THE NUMBERS • Has started last three games at point guard ... Career-high five assists against Alabama on Jan. 11 in first career SEC start 16-1 - Van Chancellor’s record in SEC regu- G 1 Katherine Graham 5-11 So. 5.4 ppg 5.9 rpg 2.9 apg lar season games at LSU -or- • Missed Vanderbilt game after suffering sprained left knee in second half at New Orleans on Jan. 14 F 22 Courtney Jones 6-2 Fr. 7.5 ppg 4.2 rpg 0.8 apg 5 - straight NCAA Final Fours, only the sec- • Career-high 16 points at Arkansas on Jan. 8 while coming off the bench ... Third on the team in scoring ond school in NCAA women’s history G 23 Allison Hightower 5-10 Jr. 14.1 ppg 4.8 rpg 2.9 apg • 2008-09 Preseason All-SEC Coaches First Team ... 2007-08 SEC Sixth Woman of the Year ... Ranks 4th in SEC in ppg, 3rd in minutes pg 19-0 - LSU’s record versus Mississippi State F 55 LaSondra Barrett 6-2 Fr. 11.4 ppg 5.9 rpg 1.0 apg in Baton Rouge • 27 points at Ark., which is a school record for most points by an LSU true freshman in an SEC regular season game 53.4 - percent of total points scored by LSU C 24 Ayana Dunning 6-3 Fr. 7.0 ppg 5.1 rpg 0.8 apg true freshmen this season (494 of the 925) • 2008 McDonald’s HS All-American ... First career double-double with season-high 20 points and 10 boards at Vanderbilt MISSISSIPPI STATE PROBABLE STARTERS (14-4, 2-2 SEC) 9 - consecutive SEC regular season home G 2 Alexis Rack 5-7 Jr. 13.7 ppg 2.9 rpg wins for LSU dating back to 2007 G 5 Armelie Lumanu 5-9 Jr. 12.6 ppg 5.8 rpg 51.5 - points allowed per game by LSU, F 24 Robin Porter 5-11 Sr. 7.7 ppg 6.2 rpg which ranks first in the SEC and third in the F 10 Chanel Mokango 6-5 Jr. 12.0 ppg 5.9 rpg nation F 33 Mary Kathryn Govero 5-11 So. 7.4 ppg 3.5 rpg LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAME 16 NOTES • VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE • JAN. 22, 2009 2008-09 LSU LADY TIGERS NUMERICAL ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Cl./Exp. Hometown/High School (Previous School) 1 Katherine Graham G 5-11 So./1L Birmingham, Ala./Ramsay HS 3 Latear Eason G 5-8 So./1L Chicago, Ill./John Hope Academy 11 Andrea Kelly G 5-9 Jr./JC Shalimar, Fla./Choctawhatchee HS (Okaloosa-Walton CC) 20 Destini Hughes G 5-10 Fr./HS Fort Worth, Texas/Kennedale HS 22 Courtney Jones F 6-2 Fr./HS Midfield, Ala./Midfield HS 23 Allison Hightower G 5-10 Jr./2L Arlington, Texas/Juan Seguin HS 24 Ayana Dunning F/C 6-3 Fr./HS Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor HS 25 Swayze Black F 6-3 Fr./HS Brookhaven, Miss./Brookhaven HS 41 Taylor Turnbow F 6-2 Fr./HS Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson HS 44 Kristen Morris F 6-2 Sr./3L Lathrup Village, Mich./Detroit Country Day School 55 LaSondra Barrett F 6-2 Fr./HS Jackson, Miss./William B. Murrah HS Head Coach: Van Chancellor (Mississippi State, 1965) Associate Head Coach: Bob Starkey PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Assistant Coach: Travis Mays (Texas, 1990) 3 Latear Eason La-TEAR Assistant Coach: Kenya Larkin-Landers (Texas, 2002) 11 Andrea Kelly An-DREE-uh Director of Basketball Operations: Brittany Dietz (Oklahoma State, 2005) 20 Destini Hughes Des-TUH-knee Athletics Trainer: Micki Collins (Nebraska, 2000) 24 Ayana Dunning Eye-ON-nah Sports Information: Bill Martin (LSU, 2007) 55 LaSondra Barrett Luh-SAWN-druh Managers: Ebonie Mathews, Jasmyn Clark, Jenna Bond Student Trainers: Amanda Barbee, Danielle Davis LSU SPORTS INFORMATION HOME POSTGAME INTERVIEWS MEDIA CREDENTIALS Bill Martin handles the sports information duties for the All postgame interviews are held in the Press Conference All requests for working press, photo and broadcast cre- Lady Tigers basketball team. He can be reached in his (Curtain Room) of the Maravich Center.