LSU’s 27-5 record earned them a number two seed in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Lady Tigers will host the first two rounds, starting on Friday against Jacksonville.
The Lady Dolphins are Atlantic Sun champs and are 24-8. But they lost by 40 points or more when they played Florida and TCU during its nonconference portion of the schedule.
The other two teams headed to Baton Rouge are 7th-seeded Texas Tech and 10th seeded Villanova.
The Lady Raiders are 25-7, 12-6 in the Big 12. It’s Texas Tech’s best season in more than 20 years. Most wins overall since 2003-04, most Big 12-wins since 2004-05.
They have some impressive victories, beating Baylor twice and TCU. The Lady Red Raiders are only allowing 58 points a game.
Texas Tech will play Villanova at 7:30 on Friday. The Wildcats are 25-7 and went 16-4 in the Big East. They are the only team in the Big East that led top-ranked Connecticut at halftime.
Villanova performed well in the WBIT the last two years, getting to the Final Four both seasons. In 2023, Villanova made it to the Sweet 16 Tournament in 2023.
If LSU advances past the second and third rounds, they could face third-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16, and an Elite 8 matchup against top-seeded UCLA is possible. The regional games will be played in Sacramento, California.
“When you go through the SEC, it’s kind of a breath of fresh air to get out of there and just start the playoffs,” head coach Kim Mulkey. “You just got to be playing your best basketball at the right time.”
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Two SEC teams earned number one seeds, South Carolina and Texas. Ten SEC women’s teams are in the NCAA tourney, and for the first time in the Mulkey era, LSU is a two-seed after being a three-seed in her four previous seasons.
“That’s progress, your trajectory is up, your trajectory is already up when you win the national championship, I think that needs to be written.”