Mar 19, 2007 4 min read

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – For West Virginia, it was a disaster. For LSU, it was the perfect start to the season. Way back on Nov. 12, the Lady Tigers romped over the Mountaineers 64-25 in the first game for both teams.

It was another dominating performance for LSU, which had made three straight Final Fours and came into the season expecting to make a fourth.

For a West Virginia program still trying to establish itself nationally, it was an embarrassment.

So guess what? It’s time for the rematch. And there’s an awful lot at stake this time around.

Third-seeded LSU (27-7) and No. 11 West Virginia (21-10) meet again Monday night in the second round of the Fresno Regional. The winner moves on to the round of 16.

“I try to forget the score, to be honest with you,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said of the first game. “We showed them some of that film, but not a lot of it.”

It’s easy to see why. Playing on LSU’s home court, West Virginia was 9-of-44 shooting the ball and committed 24 turnovers. The Mountaineers couldn’t even make free throws, missing eight of 13 attempts. West Virginia has made plenty of changes since then.

Back in that first game, Carey was still trying to mix and match lineups, looking for the right combination. Eventually, WVU recovered from its season-opening mess to finish fourth in the Big East and win 20 games in the regular season for the first time in 15 years.

LSU acting head coach Bob Starkey, a West Virginia native who takes a keen interest in the Mountaineers, is impressed by their evolution.

“Every now and then, you’re going to play somebody and you’re going to play particularly well and they’re going to play particularly poor. It just happened to be that day,” Starkey said. “They’re just a different team. They’re playing with a lot of confidence now.”

In the first matchup, West Virginia center Olayinka Sanni scored just two points in 14 minutes in her battle with LSU’s 6-foot-6 Sylvia Fowles.

In the Mountaineers’ first-round win over Xavier on Saturday night, she scored 20 against the Musketeers’ 6-5 center Amber Harris, who was the Atlantic 10 rookie of the year.

“I have to go at it and go strong,” Sanni said. “It’s going to be a real aggressive game tomorrow.”

Fowles expects a tougher game from Sanni, who appears much more confident and physical than the first time they met.

“I’m pretty sure she worked on a couple of things that she needed to work on,” Fowles said.

In Monday night’s other second-round game in Austin, third-seeded Oklahoma (27-4) plays No. 6 Marquette (26-6) in the Dayton Regional.

The Sooners will be looking for a bigger game from their All-American center Courtney Paris. She got her 59th consecutive double-double in Saturday’s win over Southeast Missouri State but for once was relegated to role player status as freshman point guard Jenna Plumley scored 20 points.

While Paris is the established star, Plumley is the emerging one for the Sooners.

Only 5-4, Plumley is a swift dribbler and shooter who can scoot around screens and defenders. She’s been the starter since a Feb. 12 win over rival Texas and has helped spark the Sooners through a nine-game winning streak.

She scored 24 against Baylor in the Big 12 tournament semifinals, then had the biggest game of her career against Southeast Missouri State with six 3-pointers and seven assists against just two turnovers.

Her two 3-pointers late in the second half helped kill a Redhawks rally.

“Coach says that we are going to get open shots, especially when they double-down and focus so much on Courtney,” Plumley said. “It just gives our shooters a great opportunity to get in rhythm and knock down easy shots.”

“Easy” is debatable.

Every time Plumley popped a 3-pointer, she seemed to drift further away from the basket for the next one.

“They were crazy, crazy deep. Beyond NBA deep,” Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale said.

Even so, Marquette knows the Oklahoma offense runs through Paris in the post.

The Golden Eagles dominated first-round opponent Louisiana-Lafayette with a front line that starts three players 6 feet or taller. Height alone won’t get it done against Paris, who averages 23 points and 16 rebounds.

Paris became the first player to record 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks last season as a freshman and needs just four rebounds Monday night to do it again.

“If she had 13 points or 30 points, she has all of our attention,” Marquette coach Terri Mitchell said. “We’ll give her all the attention she deserves.”