No. 3 LSU To Host Georgia On Thursday Night

BATON ROUGE – No. 3 LSU (21-0, 9-0 SEC) will look to continue its best start in program history Thursday at 7 p.m. CT when the Tigers welcome Georgia (15-8, 4-5 SEC) to the PMAC.

“It’s been an unbelievable year, but what have we done,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “We’ve won games and that’s it. We’ve won enough games to get everyone’s attention. We know who we are. We don’t pretend to be anyone we’re not.”

Thursday’s game can be streamed on the SEC Network + with Lyn Rollins and Victor Howell. Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams will call the game on the LSU Sports Radio Network, 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.

LSU is coming off a 76-68 win over Tennessee Monday in front of a record crowd inside the PMAC. Alexis Morris scored a career-high 31 points and had 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. Angel Reese finished with her 21st consecutive double-doubles. After she went into the half with just 4 points and rebounds, she finished the game with 18 points and 17 rebounds.

The Tigers will face a Georgia team who will apply a 2-2-1 press for most of the game, dropping back into a matchup zone. Georgia is led by Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who played at Georgia, in her first year leading the Bulldogs. In her 19th season as a head coach, she previously was at UCF for six seasons where her teams were also known for the 2-2-1 press.

“Her system is what her system is,” Coach Mulkey said. “She’s going to 2-2-1 press you - it looks like an I-formation 2-2-1 – the entire game. She’s going to play a matchup zone the entire game. We have not seen that. You saw what Tennessee’s press did to use so we’re going to get in the gym and we’re going to work.”

Georgia’s press allows the Bulldogs to force 20.6 turnovers per game. Georgia leads the SEC with a +4.5 turnover margin.

Against Tennessee, it was the Lady Vols’ full court press that allowed them to climb back in the game after LSU built a double-digit lead. Tennessee went with the press throughout the third quarter and the Lady Vols eventually got within one of the Tigers before LSU stretched its lead back out to win the game.

Diamond Battles leads Georgia with 13.9 points per game and Brittney Smith is the only other Bulldog to average in double figures at 11.9 ppg. Georgia ranks No. 12 in the SEC scoring 66.4 points per game as a team.

LSU seems to have the upper hand on the boards. LSU ranks No. 2 in the nation with a +21.4-rebounding margin compared and the Tigers haul in 50.2 rebounds per game compared to Georgia’s 37.0 rebounds per game.

After a three-game skid in SEC play, Georgia has won its past two games against Missouri and Mississippi State.