No. 5 LSU hosts Stanford on Thursday for the SEC/ACC Challenge – LSU

BATON ROUGE – No. 5 LSU (9-0) will play its first nationally televised game of the season on Thursday on ESPN2 when the Tigers host Stanford (7-1) in the PMAC for the SEC/ACC Challenge at 8 p.m. CT.

“What a tradition and what a program they (Stanford) have,” coach Kim Mulkey said. “It will be exciting. It will be a good game.”

Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty will anchor the action on ESPN2. Fans can also hear Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the LSU Sports Radio Network.

The first 400 students in attendance will receive LSU Women’s Basketball Showtime hats. 6,000 rally towels will also be raffled off. Additionally, LSU will host a toy drive – there will be a truck where fans can drop off new and unopened toys on the South Pad in front of the PMAC

Thursday marks the third time LSU and Stanford have met in women’s basketball and the Cardinals’ first trip to the PMAC. The last time the two teams played each other, LSU won in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four for the third straight year. Then LSU junior Seimone Augustus, now in her first season as an assistant coach at LSU, took over the attack with 4.8 seconds left to secure the 62-59 win in San Antonio.

LSU enters the game looking to improve to 10-0 for the second time in three seasons. The Tigers earned their first ranked win of the season over No. 20 NC State last week and then recorded the second-most points in program history with 131 against NC Central. Aneesah Morrow leads the country in double-doubles (8) and rebounding (13.0 RPG). The Tigers. On Tuesday, she was named USBWA Starting Five of the Week and SEC Co-Player of the Week.

The Tigers currently rank in the top 10 nationally in points scored (No. 3 – 93.9 ppg), free throws made (No. 6 – 18.1 per game), field goal defense (No. 4 – .308). ) and rebounds (No. 2 – 51.9 RPG).

The Cardinals lead the nation in three-point shooting percentage and are connecting on 44 percent of their attempts from long range, averaging 9.6 three-pointers per game. Five Stanford players (with at least 10 three-point attempts) shoot the three balls with a hit rate of 42 percent or more, three players with a hit rate of at least 50 percent. Despite shooting just 33.3 percent from three, Nunu Agara leads the Cardinals with 17.5 points per game. Elena Bosgana and Brooke Demetre also average double figures. Stanford plays generally solid basketball with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.42, which ranks 12th nationally.

“You better stop dribbling and kicking for threes,” coach Mulkey said of Stanford. “I don’t think they’re as big in the paint as they have been in the past, but we’ve got our hands full with it.”

Stanford is in its first season without legendary head coach Tara VanDerveer, who retired after the end of last season. Kate Paye replaced Tara VanDerveer after 17 years on the team, including eight years as associate head coach. She played on Stanford’s 1992 national championship team and was the associate head coach for the 2021 national championship.