Riley eager for her chance to thwart LSU's "Drive for Five"

3/28/2008 4:14 PM

By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Andrea Riley, the Big 12's top scorer and undisputed leader of Oklahoma State, is no less timid at a microphone than she is shooting the ball with the game on the line.

``I'm not going to be intimidated. Nobody is going to be intimidated,'' the 5-foot-5 point guard said Friday, looking ahead to the third-seeded Cowgirls' showdown with second-seeded LSU on Saturday in the New Orleans regional.

LSU (29-5) has eight seniors, including all five starters. The Tigers are looking to advance to their fourth straight Final Four, which would be the program's fifth in a row overall.

LSU coach Van Chancellor joked that his players are so experienced in the postseason that they ``could have made the speech'' for FBI agents visiting tournament sites to warn players against involvement in sports betting.

The Lady Tigers also are playing in a familiar arena only 80 miles from their Baton Rouge campus, where the crowd will likely be heavily in their favor.

Oklahoma State (27-7) hasn't been to the round of 16 since 1991.

Yet Riley, a sophomore averaging 23 points, 4.2 assists and 2.9 steals, asserted that the only thing that really matters is how each team plays its next game.

``Experience is overrated because it's just a matter of who comes out and plays the hardest and wants the game,'' Riley said. ``We're not satisfied because we just made it here. We're just going to go out there with a lot of confidence. This is just another team that we're playing. They're great. I'm not doubting that, but you can't go out there being intimidated about the name.''

Erica White, the LSU point guard who spearheads a high-pressure defense that led the nation in fewest points allowed per game (50.6), said she found nothing wrong with Riley's unabashed confidence.

``That's something she should say. They're an up-and-coming program. She's saying the right things for her program for the situation that she's in,'' White said. ``On the other hand, I'm at a great program. We've had success and I don't necessarily have to say those things. My teammates and I, we speak on the floor and we get it done, so I don't necessarily have to say things in the media to pump my fans up or to pump my teammates up.''

Although LSU's offense runs through 6-foot-6 center Sylvia Fowles, who averages 17 points and 10 rebounds, the 5-3 White played a crucial role in LSU's second-round, 68-49 victory over Marist. After foul trouble forced her to sit much of the first half, which ended with LSU leading 29-27, White took over the second half, when she scored all of her 15 points and maintained her defensive intensity to break open a close game.

Fowles refers to White as ``the head of the snake,'' and White's individual matchup with Riley could influence the game's outcome.

``You're talking about two of the quickest players in the country, and one of the best defensive point guards (White) and one of the best offensive point guards (Riley) in the country,'' Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke said. ``That is a key matchup. People have trouble guarding Andrea one-on-one, I don't care how quick you are.''

Chancellor said Riley's mentality, as much as her ability to shoot from the perimeter or score on drives, is what makes her special.

``She has the greatest asset to be a scorer - she just does not have a conscience,'' Chancellor said. ``She thinks every shot she's going to take is going to go in, and that's really dangerous.''

Of course, when Riley is able to get past White, she'll be met by help defense in the form of Fowles, who has no lack of confidence herself.

Fowles offered a quick and unequivocal ``Yes,'' when asked if she is the best player in women's college basketball today.

In addition to being one of only five LSU players to score more than 2,000 points in her career, Fowles is LSU's career leader in blocked shots with 306. She also has more rebounds (1,527) than any player in the history of the Southeastern Conference.

``Her timing and her jumping ability are just unbelievable and there's not another one like her in the country,'' Budke said.

In helping LSU reach the Final Four in her last three seasons, and in playing a non-conference schedule that has included teams like Connecticut, Fowles said Oklahoma State can do nothing to confuse or rattle her.

``I've seen everything a team can throw in the past four years,'' Fowles said. ``It might be unexpected, but I'm pretty sure we can handle it as a team and find something different or a better way to score.''

If Fowles is swarmed by OSU defenders, one of LSU's options could be Quianna Chaney, who averages 15 points and shoots confidently from 3-point range.

In any event, LSU should be ready, said Chancellor, who's won Olympic and WNBA titles and took over LSU in the offseason intent on leading the Lady Tigers to their first national championship.

``I was named LSU coach on April 11th, and from that moment on, every day of every date since that day, we've been planning for this moment right here,'' Chancellor said. ``We thought to win a national championship, we would have to beat a good zone (defense) - we would have to beat a team that was going to try to take the ball away from Sylvia. Now, let's see if we're ready.''