LSU women’s basketball set to face one of the most improved SEC teams of 2024

Originally posted on LSU Glory | By Tyler Sakalys-Moore | Last updated 2/7/24

LSU women’s basketball earned a major bounce-back win on Sunday, beating Florida 106-66 to follow up their two-game loss streak. Now, all eyes are focused on Vanderbilt, which coach Kim Mulkey views as one of the most improved SEC teams of 2024.

LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey views Vanderbilt as possible most improved team in SEC

While LSU women’s basketball was having a season to remember in 2023, coach Shea Ralph and Vanderbilt were struggling to stay above water. Ending the season with a 12-19 record, the Commodores finished 12th in the conference, just ahead of Kentucky and Texas A&M.

With that being said, through 23 games, things are looking drastically improved, as they currently have a record of 17-6, landing them at 8th in the SEC. Still, their current record doesn’t begin to tell the full story, as less than a month ago, they were sitting pretty at 16-1, with their only loss coming against No. 5 NC State in late November.

Led by the three-headed monster of guard Jordyn Cambridge, guard Iyana Moore and forward Sacha Washington, coach Ralph has her team competing in each of their matchups, earning a win against several of the best teams in the conference.

Dores are on a fire 16-2 run

| @SECNetwork
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— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) February 6, 2024

In fact, their performance thus far in 2024 has more than drawn the attention of LSU coach Kim Mulkey, as she views them as one of the more improved teams in the SEC.

“They may be – in my opinion – if not the most improved team in the league, one of the most improved teams in the league,” the Tiger head coach said during Tuesday’s media availability. “I don’t know that I’ll have to do much motivating other than to tell our team they beat Mississippi State and they beat Auburn and we didn’t.”

Sitting with a current record of 19-4, the LSU women’s basketball squad has shown flashes of dominance just as well as flashes of struggles. Notably, they’ve dropped games against teams like Mississippi State and Auburn, each of whom have lost to Vanderbilt over the last month or so.

From a purely talent-based standpoint, there’s no reason the purple and gold should struggle too much in Thursday’s matchup vs. the Commodores. Still, if they come out swinging, coach Shea Ralph’s squad could surprise, so the Tigers will need to put their best foot forward if they hope to come away from Nashville, TN, unscathed.

LSU women’s basketball will make their way over to Vanderbilt this week for an 8:00 p.m. CST matchup on Thursday, February 8, 2024. The game will be available to watch live on SEC Network.

This article first appeared on LSU Glory and was syndicated with permission.

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