BATON ROUGE – Following a thrilling win at UCF over the weekend, Charlotte Women’s Basketball is getting set to face fifth ranked LSU on Wednesday (Nov. 12) in Baton Rouge, their third power four conference opponent in the first four games of the season.
This will be the first matchup between Charlotte and LSU. During her tenure at Jackson State, Tomekia Reed had 14th seeded JSU in position to upset 3rd seeded LSU in the 2022 NCAA Tournament but ultimately came up short by a score of 83-77.
GAME DAY DETAILS
Charlotte (2-1) at #5 LSU (3-0)
Wednesday, Nov. 12 – 8:00 p.m. (EST)
Pete Maravich Assembly Center – Baton Rouge, Louisiana
GAME COVERAGE
Television » SECN+
Radio » clt49e.rs/WBBRadio
Live Stats » clt49e.rs/CLTatLSU
COACH’S CORNER
“I am proud of our team’s effort at UCF,” said Tomekia Reed. “Princess had another outstanding performance but we had several players step up in crunch time to get us the win. Tanajah Hayes hit the clutch free throws, Asianae Nicholson was a beast on the boards, Karen Nimo and Zoe Best hit timely shots, Ja’Navia Gage and our post players played well as a committee, all-around team effort.”
SCOUTING LSU
LSU is coming off three wins against Houston Christian, Southeastern Louisiana, and Georgia Southern. The Tigers have eclipsed 100 points in each game and began a season with three-straight games scoring 100-plus points for the second time in program history. Most recently versus Georgia Southern, LSU shot 46-of-87 (53%) from the field and nine-of-20 (45%) from behind the three-point arc on their way to a season high 118 points. The Tigers scored 108 against Houston Christian and 115 versus Southeastern Louisiana.
The Tigers had 31 offensive rebounds which tied for second-most in a single game in program history (32 on Dec. 21, 1993, vs. Jackson St.). LSU had a plus-22 margin in offensive rebounds (31) than its opponent (9), which is the largest margin in program history.
LSU enters the week as the fifth ranked team in the NCAA polls, the same position they were in the preseason poll after an Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Tigers return key contributors in First-Team All-SEC duo Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams alongside important role players who logged impactful minutes in Kailyn Gilbert and Jada Richard from the Tigers’ third-straight Elite Eight squad.
CHARLOTTE VS. THE POWER FOUR
This will be Charlotte’s first ranked matchup since last season when they faced #12 Ohio State, the 49ers picked up a power four conference win on Sunday at UCF.
Charlotte played #10 NC State in 2022-23, #13 Iowa State in 2021-22, #14 Kentucky in 2019-20, and faced No.1 South Carolina in 2014-15. To the top team in the country, Charlotte lost by a score of 82-61. The Niners faced #6 Duke in 2010-11 losing by a small margin of 61-55 and #6 Notre Dame in 2008-09 losing 68-61.
Their last P4 win before Sunday came at Wake Forest during the 2023-24 campaign when Charlotte won 69-58 inside Lawrence-Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Charlotte also defeated Wake Forest and Boston College in the 2019-20 season. Wisconsin (Big 10) and Pittsburgh (ACC) were two key P4 wins for Charlotte during the 2016-17 season. During the 2010-11 postseason WNIT, Charlotte picked up two SEC wins over Florida, South Carolina, and Virginia on their journey to the semifinals. Charlotte picked up a win over TCU for a Big 12 victory, also defeating Texas A&M in 2002-03 while the Aggies were members of the Big 12.
CAREER HIGH
Princess Anderson scored a career high of 26 points, including five three-pointers, to lead Charlotte to win over Campbell. Anderson matched that at UCF fueled by making 14 of her 18 free throw attempts. This is all after bouncing back from a sluggish season opener where she was held scoreless in just seven minutes of action. Anderson scored 25 points at Tulane a season ago with Wichita State, while scoring 21 points in Halton Arena as a member of the Shockers.
CRASH THE GLASS
After Charlotte grabbed 32 offensive rebounds versus Campbell, which was good for third best in program history for a single game, Asianae Nicholson carried the torch for Charlotte at UCF by totaling 18 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds. Nicholson was one rebound short of tying her career high of 19 rebounds set last season with Bethune-Cookman. So far this season, Nicholson is averaging eight offensive rebounds per game to lead the NCAA.
Charlotte’s 57 total rebounds versus Campbell tied for the most in a game since the 2018-19 season. Nicholson led the way for Charlotte, coming up with seven offensive rebounds. All 11 players for Charlotte that saw action grabbed at least one rebound.
GAME OF RUNS
A 19-0 scoring run from the end of the first quarter to midway through the second quarter fueled Charlotte’s win over UCF. Princess Anderson attacked the basket throughout the afternoon, hitting 14 of her 18 free throw attempts, while Karen Nimo, Zoe Best, and Tanajah Hayes all scored timely buckets to seal the win.
Versus Campbell, Charlotte used a 15-4 first quarter scoring advantage and ended the game on an 11-0 scoring run after the game was tied 50-50 in the closing stages to seal the win. Tanajah Hayes’ veteran leadership helped get Charlotte to the finish line in the fourth quarter, as her driving layup reclaimed the lead 52-50. A possession later, two offensive rebounds from Imani Smith and Princess Anderson led to a three-pointer from Hayes. Leading 56-50, Zoe Best found an open Anderson to connect for her fifth made three-pointer of the evening, highlighting the 11-0 run Charlotte went on to close the game out by a score of 61-50.
HOMETOWN GIRL
Charlotte native Tanajah Hayes had 12 points and six assists in her 49ers debut, logging 30 minutes of action after missing most of last season due to injury. Against UCF, Hayes had six points and eight assists, including the game clinching free throws in the closing seconds. This season, Hayes is 10th in the NCAA with 18 total assists and third in the conference averaging six assists per game.
