BATON ROUGE, La. – The fifth-ranked LSU women’s basketball team, coming off two straight victories at home, hit the road for Statesboro, Ga., to take on Georgia Southern in the Tigers’ first true road game Sunday night at the Hill Convocation Center.
The Tigers will face the home-standing Eagles on ESPN+ with Danny Waugh (play-by-play), Hunter Moseley (analyst), and Whitney Haworth (sideline) on the call. Fans can also listen to the action on the LSU Sports Radio Network with Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams calling the action at 1 p.m. CT. The LSU-Georgia Southern game will conclude the first week of the Tigers’ young season, as both teams meet for the first time in series history.
LSU is coming off a 115-26 win over Southeastern Louisiana inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. On offense, LSU scored 100 points in consecutive contests for the first time since last season’s March Madness matchups against San Diego State (103) and Florida State (101) in the first and second rounds. LSU’s margin of victory (89) matched the program record also accomplished versus McNeese on Dec. 12, 2023. Additionally, the Tigers shot 67.6% from the field, which ranks fourth in LSU history (70.0% at Alabama – Jan. 5, 1978; 69.6% vs. North Carolina A&T – Jan. 1, 2006; 67.8% vs. McNeese – Jan. 30, 1980).
On the defensive front, the Tiger defenders locked down the Lady Lions throughout the contest, holding SLU to 4, 2, 7 and 13 points in each quarter. Through the first half, LSU held SLU to six points, marking the lowest point total in a half for an LSU opponent. The previous low came in 2011 against Arkansas Pine-Bluff (8) and 2001 against Prairie View (8).
The Tigers shot 50-of-74 (67.6%) from the floor while the Lions were 10-of-52 (19.2%). LSU was 7-of-13 (53.8%) from the free throw line and 8-of-18 (44.4%) from three-point range. Additionally, they tallied 25 assists, 55 rebounds and 19 steals.
Senior Flau’jae Johnson led the Tigers, finishing with 17 points on seven of 10 shooting. LSU showed strong scoring depth as four other Tigers finished in double figures including ZaKiyah Johnson (16), Kate Koval (16), Bella Hines (14) and Grace Knox (11).
Georgia Southern most recently dropped an 80-72 decision to the Florida State Seminoles. The Eagles jumped out to an 11-2 lead, and led 53-52 with 1:55 left in the third quarter, but FSU hit 8-of-13 (61.5%) shots in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.
LSU will be the first ranked opponent hosted by Georgia Southern since No. 12/No. 11 Georgia played the Eagles at Hanner Fieldhouse on November 15, 2011 (L 43-58). The Tigers are the highest ranked opponent Georgia Southern has hosted since No. 2 Georgia visited Statesboro on November 30, 1999 (L 70-102).
The Eagles are 0-40 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents on the floor. LSU will be the 11th different SEC opponent that the Eagles have faced all-time. Georgia Southern has played Alabama (1-9), Auburn (2-5), Arkansas (0-2), Florida (5-4), Georgia (9-26), Kentucky (0-1), Ole Miss (0-2), Mississippi State (0-2), South Carolina (2-17) and Vanderbilt (0-3).