BATON ROUGE — LSU women's basketball looks to begin clearing its path to regional play in Spokane next week, and possibly beyond, this weekend.
The Tigers (28-5) are the No. 3 seed in the Spokane 1 Region and open up March Madness hosting No. 14 San Diego State (25-9) inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Saturday night (9:15 p.m., ESPN) . A win advances LSU to the second round where it would meet the winner of No. 6 Florida State and No. 11 George Mason.
Kim Mulkey has guided LSU to NCAA Tournament first-round wins in each of her first three seasons in Baton Rouge.
San Diego State won the Mountain West Conference Tournament as a No. 4 seed to clinch an automatic bid into March Madness.
To make it four straight opening-round victories, here are three things the Tigers must do against the Aztecs.
SEE OUR LSU-SDSU PREDICTION HERE LSU vs San Diego State prediction in March Madness: Prediction for 2025 NCAA Tournament opener
FLAU'JAE JOJNSON, ANEESAH MORROW UPDATES LSU's Flau'jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow 'good to go' for Women's March Madness
Two of LSU's big three stars, junior guard Flau'jae Johnson and senior forward Aneesah Morrow, are coming off injuries that have had them sidelined and in walking boots recently.
Johnson hasn't played in three weeks as she's been battling shin inflammation since the middle of February. Mulkey decided to shut her down at the end of the regular season. Morrow sprained her foot against Texas back in February and she re-aggravated that sprain again versus the Longhorns in the SEC Tournament two weeks ago.
Mulkey did say on Selection Sunday that rust for players returning from injury is always a concern and getting back into the flow takes some time. That's why it would behoove LSU to get out to a big lead on San Diego State early so Johnson and Morrow don't have to exert a ton of energy their first games back.
The Aztecs are offensively challenged as they've only scored 80 or more points six times in 34 games – two of those games were overtime contest and one was against a non-Division I opponent. SDSU manages 69.4 points per game
San Diego State lacks size to compete for 40 minutes inside and it doesn't shoot the ball much from the perimeter, taking 15 three-pointers on average.
It's a great matchup for LSU defensively and if it can start off the NCAA Tournament with a quality defensive performance, especially if the younger, more inexperienced postseason players play, it'll build much-needed confidence.
A simple, yet solid gameplan for the Tigers could be feed the ball to sophomore Mikaylah Williams as often and as early as possible in an attempt to light her fuse.
Williams, who averages 17.2 points per game on 46% shooting, has the capability to go off for 30 points if her shots fall early.
Last time out against Texas in the SEC Tournament semifinals, it wasn't the outing she wanted — especially with Morrow exiting the game — finishing with just 11 points. Foul trouble played a role in that but Williams was off the mark on the open looks when she had them.
Feeding Williams early could be a barometer that sets the table for a deep run through March Madness for LSU.
HOW TO BUY LSU NCAA TOURNAMENT TICKETS Need LSU women's basketball tickets for 2025 March Madness? Where to buy, how much
WOMEN'S MARCH MADNESS FIRST ROUND PICKS March Madness first round predictions: NCAA bracket picks for every women's game
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: What LSU women's basketball needs to do to beat SDSU in March Madness
