Angel Reese, No. 13 LSU Face Vanderbilt in SEC Road Matchup
On the heels of one of its best all-around games of the year, No. 13 LSU will face Vanderbilt Thursday night at 8 p.m. CT in Memorial Gymnasium on the SEC Network.
Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck will call the game on the SEC Network. Fans can also listen to Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the LSU Sports Radio Network, 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.
On Sunday, LSU showed what it is capable of in a 106-66 win over Florida, scoring the most points in program history in a SEC game. LSU had six players in double figures, led by Hailey Van Lith who scored a season-high and Mikaylah Williams, both with 21 points. Van Lith also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds. Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow both secured double-doubles. Morrow grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds and Reese led the team with six assists. Aalyah Del Rosario played solid minutes off the bench and finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Defensively, LSU hit all of its goals.
“The grit was there,” Coach Kim Mulkey said about the Florida win. “The toughness. The energy. Physicalness. And it stayed throughout the game and that’s rewarding to see. They understood. They listened and they went out and just did their job.”
Last-Tear Poa had one of her best games in the conference schedule. She was more aggressive offensively and made good moves to the basket to finish with nine points and four assists. She also took a charge, her 25th of the season.
“Hopefully this past game against Florida, Poa is going to continue down that path,” Coach Mulkey said. “It gives me an opportunity to have a great rotation. I can move Hailey to the off guard some.”
Vanderbilt is one of the most improved teams in the SEC this year, led by third-year head coach Shea Ralph. Last year the Commodores were 12-19 (3-13 SEC), but have strung together more wins this season. They started the season 16-1, including 3-0 in SEC play, but have since dropped five of their past six games.
“They may be, in my opinion, if not the most improved teams in the league, one of the most improved teams in the league,” Coach Mulkey said. “I don’t know if I’ll have to do much motivating other than to tell our team they beat Mississippi State and they beat Auburn and we didn’t.”
Vanderbilt applies the pressure defensively. It grabs 10.4 steals per game to rank third in the SEC led by Jordyn Cambridge who ranks No. 3 in the nation with 3.6 steals per game. Prior to Monday’s loss against Alabama, Cambridge had collected a steal in 60 consecutive games.
