Last-Tear Poa and Lady Tigers ready for another run to Final 4

It was a scary moment during the semifinals of the SEC Tournament when Last-Tear Poa’s head slammed onto the court in LSU’s win over Ole Miss. Poa was taken off the stretcher but flew back with the team the next day.

Poa returned to practice this week and she’s ready to play on Friday afternoon when the Lady Tigers face Rice in a 3 versus 14-seed matchup in the Albany 2 Regional.

Freshman guard Mikayla Williams also says she’s 100% after missing two games in the SEC Tournament because of a foot injury.

The Lady Tigers (28-5, 13-3) seem ready for another long postseason run.

Coach Kim Mulkey has won six NCAA championships, one as a player, one as an assistant coach and four as a head coach. Mulkey on what it takes to be the team that cuts down the nets at the end of the season.

“You have to be playing your best basketball, you got to stay away from injuries, you got to have a tiny bit of luck on the way, some play that goes your way,” said Mulkey. “I know we will play hard, I know our culture, whatever happens, we are going to go down fighting.”   

Rice enters the game on a four-game winning streak, winning all four games to win the American Athletic Conference Tournament and receive an automatic bid. Mulkey knows they are facing a team that’s playing its best basketball of the season.

“When you win four games and your backs are against the wall that means you are playing pretty good basketball and I anticipate they will play their best and hopefully we’ll play our best.”

Rice (19-14, 9-9) played outstanding defense in the AAC Tournament. They held all four opponents to less than 60 points. The Owls held East Carolina to 41 points in the tournament championship game.

They will need to somehow slow down LSU offensively, because the Owls average just 67 points per game and shoot 40% from the field.

Rice’s top scorer is six-foot-two junior forward Malia Fisher, who averages 13 points and seven rebounds a game.