The Longhorns had their first defeat this season against the Tigers, and Dawn Staley knows why.

“I think they just simplified their offense and took what the defence gave them. I thought they did a really good job at rebounding the basketball. That's one of the keys in order for you to beat Texas is to out-rebound them and they did that.”

Back when the Longhorns went against the Gamecocks, Texas had a total of 39 rebounds, 16 offensive and 23 defensive. But they failed to show the same form against the Tigers.

The Longhorns had secured 35 rebounds, while the Tigers grabbed 44. 19 offensive, 25 defensive at that. It was only 11 offensive and 24 defensive for Texas. But the Longhorns were catching up well. The halftime score stood at 30-25.

But that's not all. The LSU Tigers rank third in the league when it comes to rebounds (48.9), first in offensive rebounds (18.6), and 13th in defensive rebounds (30.3).

And when the Tigers don't rebound, they face issues. When No. 5 Kentucky beat them 80-78. Kim Mulkey said it clearly. "[Teonni] Key had 16 rebounds. She came into the game averaging five rebounds...If you had told me I would've been outrebounded with this group I have, there's no way I would've believed you. But that goes back to experience, it goes back to toughness and we got to get better."

And it looks like LSU's rebounding has benefited Dawn Staley and Co.

Well, South Carolina has been No. 2 on the AP Poll for a considerable amount of time this season. But the Texas Longhorns had taken that spot when they beat the Gamecocks 66-64.

However, with this loss to LSU, the Longhorns shook up the AP rankings once again. They are in 4th spot in the rankings.

With South Carolina slated to go up against the Tigers, perhaps we will see rebounding become a talking point again.

Written by

Deblina Roy

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar