The Lady Bulldogs will travel to Baton Rouge on Sunday to face the No. 9 LSU Lady Tigers.Mississippi State (12-5, 0-2 SEC) comes into the match-up after back-to-back losses to Vanderbilt and Georgia to open SEC play.
Last season the Lady Tigers (13-3, 2-0 SEC) defeated the Lady Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum with a score of 77-50.
LSU has not lost to the Lady Bulldogs at the Maravich Center in 18 previous games.
The Lady Tigers returned to the top 10 in both polls this week after wins at then No. 20 Arkansas and over Vanderbilt.
They moved up two spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll to No. 9 and jumped three spots in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Top 25 poll to eighth.
The Associated Press awarded LSU with 858 points to place behind No. 1 Connecticut, Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, Rutgers, Baylor, Stanford and California.
LSU senior center Sylvia Fowles was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.
Three weeks ago, she underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a small tear of her lateral meniscus.
The weekly league honor is the second by an LSU player this season and the sixth for Fowles in her career.
Lady Bulldogs head coach Sharon Fanning said she has been impressed with Fowles’ performance so far this season.
“Sylvia Fowles is the big kid on a ram,” Fanning said.
Last season Fowles was named first-team All-SEC by the coaches, earned All-SEC Tournament honors, was named a Kodak All-American, was one of 12 finalists for the Wade Trophy and was named first-team All-American by ESPN.
Fowles also became LSU’s all-time leader in blocked shots with her second block at Tulane on Nov. 19 and now has 250 in her career.
She became the first player in SEC history to record a double-double in every conference game and has had 62 career double-doubles.
For a few of the Lady Bulldogs, the trip to Baton Rouge will be like going home again.
“There are a few of us that are from Louisiana closer to the Baton Rouge area,” sophomore guard Tysheka Grimes said. “For the few of us that will be closer to home, we will have a lot of family and friends there and that support will really help us. I think it is going to be very special.”
The Lady Bulldogs have already made one trip to Ruston, La., this year to play Louisiana Tech.
“We went up north once this season, but now we are going home,” sophomore guard Alexis Rack said.
The team is working hard to get back on track after two tough losses.
Junior guard Marneshia Richard, who was out due to an injury, joined the team again Wednesday for practice.
“Now we have to get back on track,” Fanning said. “Marneshia is back and now we have to work hard.”
Fanning said the Lady Bulldogs had to work to better their shooting percentage.
“We have to have better shot selection and work together,” Fanning said. “Another thing to work on is positioning because position is so important.”
Fanning said the team is aware what work is left to be done and what kind of team they are going up against.
“LSU has balanced scoring, great shooting, and they are just balanced all the way around,” Fanning said. “They are a very experienced team.