Preview: Arkansas Women’s Basketball at LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — A struggling Arkansas team faces a steep challenge Thursday night when it visits fifth-ranked LSU in a Southeastern Conference women’s basketball matchup at the Maravich Assembly Center.

The Razorbacks (11-10, 0-6 SEC) enter on a six-game losing streak, all in conference play. Their most recent outing was a 76-66 home loss to Georgia on Jan. 22. Guard Bonnie Deas led Arkansas in that defeat, scoring 17 points in 40 minutes. Deas has been a bright spot, averaging 11.2 points over her last five games, but the team has lost those contests by an average of 24.2 points.

LSU (18-2, 5-2), meanwhile, has rebounded strongly from back-to-back narrow losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt to start January. The Tigers have won five straight, including a dominant 89-60 victory over Florida on Monday. Guard Jada Richard paced LSU with 20 points in that win and is averaging 16.1 points over the last seven games.

The Tigers’ high-powered offense, which averages 86.2 points per game, will test an Arkansas defense that has allowed 80.8 points per game during its skid. LSU’s only losses this season came by a combined six points.

This marks the only regular-season meeting between the programs. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. EST Thursday.

Arkansas visits Kentucky next on Feb. 1. LSU hosts Alabama on Feb. 1.