BATON ROUGE – The rematch is set.
No. 4 LSU women’s basketball (24-1, 9-1 SEC) will take on No. 17 Tennessee (17-5, 4-5) inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday (3 p.m., ESPN). The two powerhouses played earlier this season in Knoxville with Kim Mulkey and the Tigers winning, 89-87, on late-second game-winning shot from Kailyn Gilbert.
Tennessee will storm into Sunday’s showdown off it biggest win of the season over No. 5 UConn, 80-76.
Here’s what to know about the LSU-Lady Vols SEC clash.
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Tennessee Lady Vols spreading the wealth on offense
Mulkey has talked about length about new Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell’s system and how it applies pressure on both ends of the floor.
The thing that ultimately separated Tennessee from UConn on Thursday night was its ability to spread the ball around and those players knocking down shots when needed. Seven different Lady Vols scored at least five points and had at least four shot attempts.
How do the Lady Vols spread defenses out? Efficiency in shooting the ball is always going to be key. The emergence of junior forward Zee Spearman is going to be a factor in the LSU-Tennessee matchup. Spearman scored a team-high 16 points for Tennessee against UConn and with her size at 6-4, the establishment of an true inside-out game with Lady Vols leading scorer and guard Talaysia Cooper brings an added element to this rematch from the first game.
3-point shootout between LSU-Tennessee?
The first time the two played in Knoxville, LSU took eight 3-point attempts. That will be different for the Tigers’ offense this go around.
LSU stars Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams have been lighting it up from behind the arc of late. Williams has scored 75 points the last three games and the sophomore is 14 of 24 from the perimeter. Johnson is shooting higher than 50% from the field overall in that same stretch and from 3, she’s knocked down 9 of her last 16.
Make no mistake, Tennessee will shoot at least 25 three-pointers Sunday. While it’s unlikely LSU will try that many, but the added element of 3-point efficiency with Johnson and Williams sustained performance in that aspect could prevent the Lady Vols from sinking down in the paint.
Kim Mulkey, LSU women’s basketball has struggled with quicker teams but defense has played better
The Lady Vols shot 42.1% from the field in the first meeting against the Tigers this season. But since, LSU has held five of its last seven opponents to 38% or worse shooting and that includes No. 2 South Carolina on the road.
Oklahoma, who by metrics plays faster than Tennessee, had success against LSU, netting 100 points while scoring at a 54.6% clip. The Sooners were able to get inside and scored 46 of their 100 points in the paint.
For the Tigers, the magic number is 40%. If they can limit Tennessee to around 40% shooting, they’re rebounding efficiency with star Aneesah Morrow should provide them the path to victory.
LSU women’s basketball vs Tennessee score prediction
LSU 84, Tennessee 77: LSU steps up on defense late in the game to get a couple of key stops in a game that sees both offenses shoot the ball well from deep.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU women’s basketball vs Tennessee: Score prediction, scouting report
