GREENVILLE, S.C. — Last month, the Texas women's basketball team battled LSU for positioning in the Southeastern Conference standings. On Saturday night, a bigger prize will be on the line.
Texas and LSU will meet at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in the semifinals of the SEC tournament. The winner of this showdown will advance to play either South Carolina or Oklahoma in Sunday's SEC championship game.
Texas (30-2) and LSU (28-4) are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, in the SEC's bracket.
This game is taking place nearly three weeks after Texas recorded a 65-58 win over LSU at Austin's Moody Center. Sophomore forward Madison Booker led the Longhorns past the Tigers that day with her 16 points and 10 rebounds.
What channel is Texas vs LSU?
TV Channel: ESPN2
Radio: 103.1 FM
What time does Texas women's basketball play?
Date: March 8
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
Madison Booker or Aneesah Morrow: Who is the SEC's MVP?
Earlier this week, Booker and LSU senior forward Aneesah Morrow were both tabbed as the SEC's top talent. Booker's SEC Player of the Year award carries more weight since it's the official league award that was voted on by the conference's coaches. Morrow was picked as the SEC Player of the Year by the USA TODAY Sports Network, which considered the votes of American-Statesman writers Danny Davis and Zoe Collins Rath and 10 additional media members for its SEC awards.
Booker, for what it's worth, said on Tuesday that she would have picked Morrow over herself had she been allowed to vote.
Booker has averaged 16.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while leading Texas to a co-conference championship during the regular season. Morrow leads the NCAA in both rebounding (14.0 per game) and double doubles (27).
SEC snub Taylor Jones considered one of college basketball's top centers
Texas senior Taylor Jones wasn't among the 17 players who made the first- and second-team cuts on the all-SEC team this week. But that doesn't mean that her play in the post has gone unnoticed.
Jones has been named a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award, which is given annually to college basketball's best center. Jones is contending for this honor with Oklahoma's Raegan Beers, UCLA's Lauren Betts, Iowa State's Audi Crooks and TCU's Sedona Prince.
The 6-foot-4 Jones is averaging 12.1 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.
LSU opens SEC tournament with an offensive onslaught
LSU has shut down Flau'Jae Johnson for the SEC tournament, but the Tigers didn't appear to miss their all-conference guard on Friday. In its tournament opener, LSU rolled to a 101-87 victory over 11th-seeded Florida as Morrow scored 36 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
LSU has scored at least 100 points in five of its games this season.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey was away from the team this week while she mourned a death in her family. Mulkey was on the sideline with the Tigers on Friday, but she had associate head coach Bob Starkey coach the team.
Texas vs. LSU prediction
Texas. When Texas and LSU played on Feb. 16, Morrow, Johnson and Mikaylah Williams combined for 84.5% of the Tigers' points. Removing Johnson from the equation won't benefit LSU while Texas trots out the same team that recorded that seven-point win. Expect UT to secure the season sweep and semifinal success.