She was sipping a wonderful espresso, sitting outside in Paris at Les Deux Magots, leafing through the International Herald Tribune newspaper on a cool Saturday morning, March 18, 2006.

Sue Weaver turned the page and suddenly gasped. There was a picture of her friend Karen Terrell, back across the pond, standing and grinning amid a cheering crowd in an arena, holding up a sign with purple and orange lettering.

It read, “Cinderella Wears Purple!”

A day earlier, March Madness honed in on the Northwestern State Demons basketball team, creating a buzz that still won’t fade away.

Tonight, precisely 20 years later, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum at 800 Front Street in Natchitoches is hosting an anniversary event commemorating that St. Patrick’s Day surprise.

The 14^th seeded NSU Demons 64, No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes, champions of the Big Ten Conference Tournament, the 15^th ranked team in all the land, 63.

Tonight’s gathering starts at 6 o’clock, with a roundtable discussion tipping off a little after 6:30 including the now-iconic retired Demons’ coach Mike McConathy, players and team personnel, with audience participation encouraged.

Karen will be there, with her “Cinderella Wears Purple” sign. Other keepsakes will be shared and displayed, and guests will enjoy revisiting photos and video from that fabled Friday midday first-round upset.

Admission cost tonight? It’s free. That’s appropriate because when March Madness produces Cinderellas, they belong to all of us. The Final Four is almost always for blue-bloods only, but the inevitable stunners along the way, the bracket busters, make everybody but the losing team happy.

That was the vibe March 17, 2006 inside The Palace of Auburn Hills. On hand to share the contest with America was the already legendary CBS announcing crew of “Uncle” Verne Lundquist and Bill Rafterty. Lundquist’s wife Nancy had visited Natchitoches regularly as a Lincoln-Mercury regional rep, so Verne didn’t need a pronunciation primer and knew about small north Louisiana towns like Heflin and Boyce that produced the young men whose purple jerseys didn’t have their names on the back.

Vital note: low seeds from the one-bid leagues have a couple of advantages unique to the NCAA Tournament. The games are played on neutral courts. There are eight teams at every first-round site, and although the higher seeded teams almost always have more fans in the stands, the supporters of the other teams, and the casual fans there for spectacle, are hoping heavyweights fall.

When it seems possible, suddenly the brand name team finds most of the crowd is cheering for the other guys. It hardly seemed feasible with 8:29 remaining and the Hawkeyes in control, 54-37 – unless you remembered how NSU erased an 18-4 Iowa lead with a 17-2 run in the first half.

Unless you knew how the Demons had come from 20 down at halftime to win in overtime at Mississippi State three months earlier. Unless you had watched the team develop its trademark, huge lopsided runs, throughout a 25-7 season that included unlikely wins at Oklahoma State and over Oregon State. Even their losses went down to the wire.

Unless you recalled that more than one prominent college basketball analyst predicted a Northwestern win. A couple picked the Demons into the Sweet 16. One had them going to the Elite Eight. Point being, the “Demons of Destiny,” as tagged by radio play-by-play man Patrick Netherton, had the goods.

They did. On a dime … several dimes, actually, from shooting guard Luke Rogers and point guards Tyrone Mitchell and Keenan Jones. Big Mo turned Northwestern’s way as “Big Smooth,” forward Clifton Lee,  made Iowa “Fear the Fro.” He had one, and everybody noticed as he drained four 3-pointers and poured in 16 points in a 20-6 burst. Suddenly it was a one-possession game with two minutes left. Other than the black and gold Hawkeye fans, everybody else in the Palace was purple with excitement.

To find its place in the magic of March Madness, the game needed the finish it got – a 22-foot fallaway 3-pointer by senior Jermaine Wallace, over Iowa’s Adam Haluska, from the left corner, dropping through with half a second left.

The outcome was ranked No. 22 among the “25 Best Tourney Moments” in the past 25 years by SI.com editors. ESPN.com editors listed Wallace’s shot among the “Top 16 Game Ending Plays” in the last 30 years of NCAA tournament history. The winning play won the Pontiac Game Changing Performance award for that year’s tournament. Fan voting resulted in a $105,000 general scholarship donation by General Motors/Pontiac to Northwestern – students, not athletes, graduate each year thanks to that financial aid.

Footage was used in a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial a few years ago. It was scripted into an episode of CBS’s “The Young and the Restless” soap opera as a bit of snazzy cross promotion of the network’s March Madness coverage.

How special was it, really? As he made his retirement rounds in 2017, Lundquist was asked to rank his favorite tournament games over 40+ years at midcourt wearing a headset.

His top choice was obvious: 1992 Duke-Kentucky, the top two East Regional seeds, won by the Blue Devils 104-103 on the Christian Laettner buzzer-beater off Grant Hill’s 75-foot inbounds pass with 2.1 seconds to go in overtime.

Uncle Verne’s Number 2: NSU 64, Iowa 63. When he got back to the hotel that night, after calling three subsequent games, he called Nancy, as always. She asked, “Honey, did the team from Natchitoches win?”

Those memories will bubble up again tonight, as they always do, not only around this neighborhood, every Big Dance.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

By MALCOLM BUTLER, Lincoln Parish Journal

Punch. Counter punch.

Louisiana Tech fans (and all of the college football world) were entertained late last week when the Bulldogs’ 2026 gridiron schedule was released. 

Twice. 

While the Conference USA basketball championships were in the middle of the final game of the quarterfinals on Thursday night, league officials released the football slate. 

After sending out a notification to its current member schools around 8:35 p.m. alerting them to the impending announcement, just minutes later CUSA released the slate — which included Louisiana Tech — via social media avenues. Tech officials did not recognize the announcement with one of their own.

Less than 18 hours later, the Sun Belt Conference office released its 2026 football slate Friday with the Bulldogs as part of it. Tech officials immediately joined in with social media posts and an email announcement of the ‘Dogs’ slate in Sun Belt Conference play.

It was the latest move in a game of conference affiliation chess. It sparked plenty of national publicity, most jokingly asking how the Bulldogs will play 16 “league games” in 2026. 

They won’t.

In response to the schedule releases, the Board of Directors for the University of Louisiana System filed an amended lawsuit (visit LincolnParishJournal.com to view it) late Friday afternoon with the Third Judicial District Court in Lincoln Parish on behalf of Louisiana Tech University versus Conference USA. The amended suit replaces an original March 5 filing first reported by the Lincoln Parish Journal, a report which was soon picked up by national outlets.

Louisiana Tech released the following statement Monday.

“In our February 13 letter to CUSA we urged them not to include Louisiana Tech in the football schedule. We have made it perfectly clear since July 2025 that Louisiana Tech will not play any football games as a member of the Conference in 2026. To include our university in any schedule is misleading and, frankly, disingenuous given the exchanges of communications over the past months.

“The Conference knew that Louisiana Tech was withdrawing long ago and had ample time to adjust its scheduling accordingly. This move is crucial to the health and well being of our student-athletes. For our fans, we look forward to renewing rivalries in the Sun Belt Conference this fall with UL-Lafayette and Southern Miss in Joe Aillet Stadium and a visit to our neighbors in Monroe.”

Conference USA then responded Saturday by filing a Notice of Removal to federal court in the Western District based on diversity jurisdiction, requesting that the lawsuit be dealt with in federal court instead of state court.

This means the state court is immediately divested of jurisdiction, meaning the hearing originally scheduled for Thursday (March 19) will not take place. The ULS and Louisiana Tech will likely file a motion requesting to bring it back to state court. 

The amended lawsuit filed by the ULS on Friday has two key changes to it. 

The first has to do with Count 1 (Temporary, Preliminary and Permanent Injunctive Relief) and the second was an additional Court 3 (although it fell at the end of Count 2 on the amended lawsuit; documents available at LincolnParishJournal.com). 

At the time the original petition was filed, Louisiana Tech was not on the Sun Belt Conference’s schedule since it had not been released. However, once the Sun Belt released the schedule with Louisiana Tech as part of it, it created an operational impossibility as its teams cannot compete in two leagues at the same time which became the basis of the amended Count 1 for injunction.

Count 1 now states “Tech’s participation in the SBC for the 2026-27 academic year is not a development that arose from this litigation. Tech’s July 14, 2025 withdrawal notice expressly identified July 1, 2026 as its exit date and Tech has consistently stated it would be departing for the SBC on that date from that point forward. The operational conflict now before this Court is the direct and foreseeable consequence of CUSA’s decision to pursue financial resolution exclusively for months before unilaterally placing Tech on its schedule publicly released on March 12, 2026.”

Count 2 is exactly the same but the amended lawsuit effectively included a 3rd Count added on the end of Count 2 under Declaratory Relief: Grant of Rights Agreement.

Conference USA has alleged Louisiana Tech has to buy out of a Grant of Rights Agreement executed June 26, 2023, and effective July 1, 2023. 

The amended lawsuit states “CUSA has invoked the GoRA as both a basis for financial demands extending through 2029 and as leverage against Louisiana Tech’s withdrawal from the Conference. An actual and justiciable controversy therefore exists concerning the parties’ respective rights and obligations under that agreement. A declaration of the GoRA’s proper scope and effect is necessary to resolve the dispute between the parties and to prevent CUSA from asserting rights under the GoRA that exceed its contractual purpose.”

This is asking the court to interpret Tech’s obligations under the GoRA with Conference USA.  

Tech officials have stated their reasons for notifying CUSA of its intent to depart on July 1, 2026, and the desire to reach what it considers fair financial terms with CUSA.

“Our move to the Sun Belt enhances the experience of our student-athletes, renews regional rivalries, and significantly benefits the Louisiana economy,” said an official statement on March 5. “Additionally CUSA has previously acknowledged the difficulty of crafting an 11-team schedule if we were to remain next year. We have tried to offer a fair financial resolution to this dispute and are hopeful that we can resolve it without resorting to prolonged litigation.”

For now, the game of chess continues.  

Contact Malcolm at lpjnewsla@gmail.com

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

Two bitter Conference USA basketball championship game losses Saturday soured 20-win seasons for Louisiana Tech.

In a stunner, sixth-seeded Missouri State smothered the top-seeded Lady Techsters, holding them to their lowest point total in six years including only 12 points after halftime in a 43-38 loss in Huntsville, Ala.

The Bulldogs, seeded fourth, were surprise finalists in the men’s bracket and so was sixth-seeded Kennesaw State (21-13, which prevailed over Tech 71-60 Saturday night to earn the CUSA automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. It would have been the Bulldogs’ first run in March Madness since 1991.

Due to the demise of the College Basketball Invitational, which announced last week it would not operate this year, Tech had no place to go despite its 20-14 record that ordinarily would be good enough to continue playing.

The Techsters (26-6) aren’t finished yet. They received an automatic bid to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament as a regular-season champion that did not get into the NCAA Tournament.

Tech will go to Houston to play American Conference regular-season champ Rice – a former CUSA rival —  in Tudor Fieldhouse on Thursday, tipping off at 7 o’clock.

The WBIT is a 32-team postseason tournament with the highest-seeded teams hosting first, second and quarterfinal round games at campus sites. WBIT semifinal and final games are at Butler University’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on March 30 and April 1.

The Lady Techsters went 17-1 in league play, losing their first, then not falling again for 20 games, after pushing through CUSA Tournament quarterfinals and semifinals. The regular-season 17-game run is the longest winning streak in CUSA history.

Missouri State (22-12) lost two games to the Techsters in the regular season, 60-51 at Springfield, Mo. On Jan. 22, and 68-67 in Ruston on Valentine’s Day. The Bears drew a play-in game matchup against Southland Conference Tournament champion Stephen F. Austin (25-9) in Austin on Wednesday.

The Techsters’ 26 wins are the most by the program since 2005-06.

Rice (28-5) was upset by UTSA 54-40 in the American Conference championship game. The Owls, also 17-1 in regular-season league play, are first in the country in free throw aim at 81.6 percent.

Former Tech athletics director Tommy McClelland has the same post at Rice.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

By MATT VINES, LSUS Public Relations Communications Specialist

For a men’s basketball program that’s made the final NAIA National Tournament site in 21 of their 23 seasons in existence, one might expect this week’s trip to Kansas City to be old hat – a simple routine.

But for the 15 Pilots who climbed on a charter bus Monday morning on LSUS’s campus, it’s the first time they’ve make the nearly nine-hour trip north.

After winning the first two games of the NAIA National Tournament in their home gym this past weekend, LSUS will bring an entirely new bunch of guys to the NAIA Sweet 16 in Kansas City.

The No. 2 seed Pilots (28-5) will play No. 3 seed Ave Maria (28-4) on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in historic Municipal Auditorium.

“Today is just as exciting as the first time I went as a player and as a coach,” said LSUS coach Kyle Blankenship. “Practice starts (Tuesday), so we’ll get up there and have a nice team dinner tonight and then prepare for a very good Ave Maria team.

“I’ve always told my guys that winning the first game is the hardest, and we’ve already won two games here at home in this tournament. So we’ll relax and play ball, and we’re hoping to play well and win a few games up there.”

Friday’s game features two of the top scoring offenses in the nation with Ave Maria averaging 92.2 points per game (second nationally) and LSUS scoring 90.6 per contest (fifth nationally).

As LSUS makes its 22nd appearance in the national tournament, the Pilots have made it to Kansas City in all but one season – last season.

Teams usually travel to Kansas City just by making the 32-team national tournament field, but when the field expanded to 48 and then to 64 teams starting in 2022, LSUS had to win opening round games at a host site before heading to the hallowed halls of Municipal Auditorium.

The Pilots did that in 2022, 2023, and 2024, but lost in the first round of the 2025 national tournament.

LSUS rekindled the KC connection this year by winning two tournament games at The Dock, its first national tournament games ever in its home gym.

Coushatta native Emareyon McDonald, the only Pilot from north Louisiana, saw plenty of familiar faces from his hometown in the crowd.

“I had a lot of family there, and it’s great to see the support, and it boosted my confidence,” said McDonald, a senior who is in his first year at LSUS after beginning college at Northwestern State and transferring to Grambling. “Coach Blankenship recruited the right guys, and this team has come together throughout the season.”

LSUS fended off both of its opponents as a host, beating No. 15 seed Tougaloo and No. 10 seed Texas Wesleyan, in single-digit fashion.

Blankenship has guided LSUS to all three of its Elite Eight appearances (2012, 2013, 2018) and both Fab Fours (2013, 2018).

A win Friday night would mean a fourth Elite Eight for the program, and the Pilots aim to come home with a lot more than that.

Contact Matt at matt.vines@lsus.edu

By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Contributor 

For the better part of the last decade, Flying Heart Brewing and Pub has been a cornerstone of the Bossier City East Bank District. It is one of the most sought-after casual dining atmospheres in the Shreveport-Bossier area.

Over the years, I have been a very frequent customer at Flying Heart and have found that they are almost never having a slow day. I remember one time I had to wait for a table at 3 p.m. on a Saturday; there was no big game or anything, just a bunch of people wanting some good food.

Flying Heart does not have a bunch of appetizers, only three in fact, and they are all good. There is no visit of mine that doesn’t include the pretzel bites. I get it with the beer cheese dip and could just eat those all day.

I have always been a lover of the Shrooms n’ Sausage pizza; it’s my main go-to order. I do not like cauliflower but a friend of mine kept trying to convince me to order mine with the cauliflower crust. It took multiple visits for him to convince me to go for it and I’m glad I did because it adds so much, keeping all the flavors of the original pizza without the traditional, thicker crust. It also has less carbs, making my doctor happy, I’m sure.

Pizza is by no means the only thing Flying Heart offers; they have been known for their wings just as much as the pizza. They come with bone-in or boneless and have multiple flavor choices. I pretty sure I’ve tasted them all except the hot buffalo, with the garlic parmesan being my favorite. Just ask for extra napkins. You’ll need them.

A few months ago, I wasn’t looking for anything heavy, so I tried the club wrap. It was just right, with all fresh meats and toppings. Ever since, I have to ask myself if I want pizza, wrap, or wings, which just goes to show how complete their menu is, a great range especially when you have a group with varying tastes.

I have yet to try a salad on Flying Heart’s menu, but I have seen them being brought to other tables and they are huge. There is no doubt it’s dinner and lunch the next day. As spring comes, maybe I will try one for myself — or will my go-to choices win out?

I have yet to make it through my meal with room for dessert, but neither has anyone else who’s been with me. Nothing wrong with being full and satisfied every time I go there.

Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net

Gov. Jeff Landry is pushing to redirect millions from the state’s $300 million TOPS scholarship program toward workforce credential training, citing data showing that only 30% of new Louisiana jobs require a four-year degree.

By the Parish Journals Network Staff

BATON ROUGE — A debate unfolding on the floor of the Louisiana House of Representatives is forcing a long-overdue question about the state’s education funding priorities: Is Louisiana spending its scholarship dollars where the jobs actually are?

The answer, according to Gov. Jeff Landry and a growing coalition of lawmakers from both parties, is a clear no — and the gap is staggering.

Louisiana currently spends approximately $300 million annually on the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, known as TOPS, which funds four-year college degrees at in-state universities. By contrast, the state dedicates just $6 million to vocational and technical students — a 50-to-1 disparity that Landry called “a significant imbalance” in remarks to legislators.

“This is not about choosing one path over another,” Landry told lawmakers. “It’s about respecting every path that leads to work and opportunity.”

The Job Market Picture

The governor’s contention is backed by state workforce data. According to the Louisiana Board of Regents, slightly more than 30% of good jobs in Louisiana require a bachelor’s degree or higher, while slightly more than half of all quality jobs in the state require a community or technical college credential or other postsecondary certification. The workforce majority, in other words, does not require a traditional four-year university education.

Louisiana’s 2024 Workforce Development Report identifies skilled trades — welders, electricians, plumbers and boilermakers — as among the fastest-growing occupations over the next decade, alongside healthcare. Many of these positions carry competitive wages and can be entered through training programs measured in months, not years. As of October 2025, the state reported 115,000 open job positions per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a job openings rate of 5.4% — above the national average of 4.5%. That persistent gap between available workers and available jobs has amplified urgency behind the policy conversation.

Louisiana Workforce Commission Secretary Susana Schowen has described the situation directly: the state has a significant number of jobs that are critically undersupplied, particularly in health care, information technology, coastal restoration, logistics and industrial construction — none of which consistently require a four-year degree. A growing movement to eliminate what advocates call the “paper ceiling” — degree requirements that screen out qualified candidates — has gained traction in Louisiana state hiring as well, with civil service officials working to open more government positions to skills-based applicants.

TOPS: A Program Under Pressure

Created in 1989 by oilman Patrick F. Taylor, TOPS has been a cornerstone of Louisiana higher education for more than three decades. It covers a significant share of tuition at public colleges for students meeting GPA and ACT thresholds. The Board of Regents reports that TOPS recipients complete degrees at higher rates and in less time than peers without the scholarship — a genuine success story.

But the program faces structural strain. Award amounts remain frozen at 2016–2017 tuition rates and have not kept pace with rising costs. A 2025 legislative session proposal by Rep. Chris Turner of Ruston, House Bill 77, sought to update those amounts and add a new top-tier “Excellence Award,” but the estimated $30 million to $50 million annual price tag proved difficult to absorb amid a tight budget year. The share of eligible students choosing to accept TOPS awards has also declined for a decade, raising questions about the program’s long-term reach.

The MJ Foster Promise Program: A Different Bet

In contrast to TOPS, the M.J. Foster Promise Program is the state’s primary financial aid vehicle for workforce-aligned credentials. Named for former Gov. Mike J. Foster, it supports Louisiana residents 19 and older pursuing associate degrees or short-term credentials in construction, healthcare, information technology, manufacturing and transportation and logistics.

In its second year, the program served 3,038 students at a total cost of $10.5 million. Nearly half of recipients were 30 or older, and nearly 65% earned less than $28,000 annually before enrolling — reflecting its role as a genuine economic mobility tool for working-class Louisianans. Demand has already outpaced funding: the initial allocation ran out in December, six months before fiscal year end, prompting a mid-session $7.5 million supplement. The Board of Regents has since requested lawmakers double the program to $21 million. Gov. Landry’s proposed budget requests an additional $14.5 million, which would more than triple the state’s current $6 million vocational commitment.

Bipartisan Support, Real Disagreements

The governor’s push has drawn rare cross-aisle support. Sen. Royce Duplessis and Rep. Shaun Mena, both New Orleans Democrats, voiced backing for expanding Foster Promise, with Duplessis acknowledging that four-year degrees are not the only path to well-paying careers.

“Overall, the issues he chose to highlight are ones we all want to address,” Duplessis said. “We just might have some differences in how to do that.”

Those differences are real. TOPS is politically entrenched, and universities — particularly LSU, with approximately 10,000 TOPS-funded students, and a budget-strained University of New Orleans — have grown dependent on the program. House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Jack McFarland of Jonesboro framed the challenge succinctly: “Before we go and we commit ourselves to more, I think we need to address what we currently have in front of us.” With lawmakers simultaneously trying to avoid K–12 teacher pay cuts, any new spending commitment carries a steep political price.

What Comes Next

TOPS is not on the chopping block. The program’s graduation outcomes are genuine, and its political constituency is deeply rooted. But the question of whether $300 million in annual scholarship spending should remain so heavily concentrated in four-year degree pathways — while vocational and technical students share just $6 million — is no longer a fringe debate. It is the central question on the House floor.

Gov. Landry’s framing places the legislature in the difficult position of defending a funding structure that Louisiana’s own workforce data does not easily support. How lawmakers resolve that tension this session — and whether the Foster Promise Program receives the investment its early enrollment numbers suggest it merits — will have lasting consequences for how Louisiana prepares its workforce.

For residents pursuing careers as electricians, welders, healthcare workers, process technicians and industrial maintenance workers — the occupations the state’s own projections consistently identify as most in demand — the stakes of getting this balance right are substantial.

Editor’s Note: This article is produced by the Parish Journals Network, which covers communities across Northwest and Central Louisiana. Information is drawn from floor proceedings of the Louisiana House of Representatives, the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Louisiana Workforce Commission, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Louisiana Illuminator.

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SHREVEPORT — Downtown Shreveport’s Regions Tower, the tallest building in north Louisiana at 365 feet, has been sold to Wilmington Trust Banking Company for more than $15 million following a Caddo Parish Sheriff’s auction. The sale must still go through the clerk of court before it is finalized, and current tenants remain in the building. 

The complex consists of the 25-story Regions Tower and the 16-story Regions Building, connected by a four-story atrium, comprising approximately 500,000 square feet of combined Class-A office space. 

The property entered receivership after owner Hertz Investment Group fell behind on utility payments, with SWEPCO posting a cutoff notice on the tower doors in August 2024 citing more than $420,000 in unpaid bills.

The mortgage had been delinquent since July 2025, triggering the foreclosure and eventual sheriff’s sale. 

Wilmington Trust has not announced plans for the property.

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

BATON ROUGE – It’s Kim Mulkey’s favorite month of the year.

Why?

Her annual appointment with the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s hard to believe I’ve done it this many years,” said Mulkey, who now has taken teams to the NCAA tourney in 24 of her 26 years as the second-winningest women’s coach ever in March Madness (66-19, including 53-16 in 19 appearances at Baylor, 13-4 in four appearances at LSU). “I’ll always be excited as long as I have a breath to cheer, pump my fist and do things, because I just don’t take it for granted. It’s darn hard to win championships.”

LSU (27-5), the No. 2 seed in the Sacramento Region 2, will host No. 15 Atlantic Sun Conference tourney winner Jacksonville (24-8) Friday at 5 p.m. in a Baton Rouge Regional first-round game in Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The winner will play in Sunday’s second round vs. the winner of Friday’s 7:30 p.m. game between No. 7 seed Texas Tech (25-7) and No. 10 seed Villanova (25-7).

“Everything you’ve done is history,” Mulkey said, “Scratch it off and put a big `X’ on it and go. Let’s start the real season now.”

Under Mulkey, the Tigers won their first-ever national championship in 2023. LSU lost in the regional finals to Iowa in 2024 and UCLA in 2025.

LSU enters this year’s tourney with two things it didn’t have last season – a completely healthy Flau’Jae Johnson and a deep bench.

Last year, Johnson sprained an ankle in the last week of the regular season and sat out three games, including two in the SEC tournament.

Also, the Tigers’ bench didn’t stretch past three reserves, and none of them were explosive scorers.

This season, senior guard Johnson (13.8 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game) and junior first-team All-SEC guard Mikaylah Williams of Bossier City Parkway (13.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) have started all 32 games.

But Johnson, Williams and the rest of the starters haven’t had to carry all the load.

LSU’s bench, led by South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley (14.6 ppg, 3.8), is averaging a nation-leading 39.1 points. A trio of freshmen – Grace Knox, Bella Hines and ZaKiyah Johnson – are averaging a combined 22.9 points and 12.6 rebounds, mostly off the bench.

“We’ve played at eight, nine, sometimes the whole bench, depending on the score of the game,” Mulkey said. “I’m not afraid to play them.

“You’ve got to have depth. And when you do have depth that’s seasoned and comfortable and confident, it helps you.”

Mulkey isn’t worried that her freshmen will melt under college basketball’s brightest and most intense spotlight.

“We’re going to continue to do what we do,” Mulkey said. “I think we have some seasoned young ones. Now, when you go through the SEC, it’s kind of a breath of fresh air to get out of there and just start the playoffs.”

The SEC had 10 teams receive NCAA tournament bids, including No. 1 seeds Texas and South Carolina, No. 2 seeds LSU and Vanderbilt, No. 4 seed Oklahoma, No. 5 seeds Ole Miss and Kentucky, No. 6 seed Alabama, No. 7 seed Georgia and No. 10 seed Tennessee.

“I want them all to do good,” Mulkey said of her SEC counterparts. “I hope we see SEC teams when we all get to the Elite Eight.” 

NCAA BATON ROUGE REGIONAL FIRST ROUND 

No. 2 seed LSU (27-5) vs. No. 15 seed Jacksonville (24-8), Friday, 5 p.m. (ESPN) 

LSU 

NCAA tournament appearances and record: 30, 56-29 (65.4 percent) 

Last appearance: 2025, beat San Diego State 103-48, Florida State 101-71 and N.C. State 80-73, lost to UCLA 72-65 

Head coach: Kim Mulkey (773-129 in 26 seasons overall, 143-25 in five seasons at LSU)

Starting lineup: G Flau’Jae Johnson, 5-10, Sr. (13.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg), G Mikaylah Williams 6-0, Jr. (13.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg), G Jada Richard, 5-7, So. (9.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg), G ZaKiyah Johnson, 6-2, Fr. (9.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg), F Amiya Joyner, 6-2, Sr. (9.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg) 

Top reserves: G MiLaysia Fulwiley, 5-10, Jr. (14.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg), F Kate Koval, 6-5, So. (8.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg), F Grace Knox, 6-2, Fr. (8.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg), G Bella Hines, 5-10, Fr. (4.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg) 

JACKSONVILLE 

NCAA tournament appearances and record: 1, 0-1 

Last and only appearance: 2016, lost in first round 77-41 to South Carolina 

Head coach: Special Jennings (49-45 in three seasons overall and at Jacksonville) 

Starting lineup: G Priscilla Williams, 6-4, Gr. (15.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg), G Comari Mitchell, 5-8, So. (6.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg), F Carmayn Bowman, 5-10, Jr. (6.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg), G Makiya Miller, 5-7, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg), F Tatum Brown, 5-6, Fr. (10 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

Top reserves: G Bailey Burns, 5-10, Jr. (6.4 ppg, 2 rpg), F Mariah Knight, 6-1, So. (4.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg), G Aniah Smith, 5-4, Fr. (7.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg)

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

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By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

LAKE CHARLES – Maybe seven is the lucky number for the Calvary Baptist basketball program.

The Cavaliers will have to wait for next year to find out. Their sixth state championship game appearance Saturday was like the previous five, with an agonizing ending.

For the second consecutive year, Metairie Park Country Day upset a top-seeded Calvary club, winning 58-49 in the Select Division III finals at Burton Coliseum in the LHSAA’s Marsh Madness.  It was the sixth state finals berth in the past seven years for Calvary, all ending in runner-up finishes.

The Cajuns were the third seed in the bracket and stunned No. 2 Dunham 51-49 in a Thursday semifinal on a fluke deflected basket in the closing seconds, but they had plenty of firepower (Kellen Brewer, son of New Orleans Pelicans’ assistant coach and former Florida Gators star Corey Brewer, and Curtis McAllister, son of Saints’ great Deuce) and a 700-win coach (Mike McGuire), helping secure their seventh state title.

Calvary junior point guard Tyrone Jamison scored 20 points, including a 25-foot 3-pointer that beat the halftime buzzer for a 22-17 Cavs lead. But Calvary suffered 21 turnovers and Country Day shot 51 percent overall while allowing only 38 percent aim, and held its own in rebounding (29-28 Cavs) after Calvary outrebounded De La Salle 50-22 in a 66-38 semifinal romp.

A young Country Day team shocked top-seeded Calvary 59-56 last March. This time, the Cajuns (24-5) used a decisive 16-4 run over six minutes after halftime to flip the five-point deficit into a 33-26 lead. The Cavaliers got the last four points of the period, but a 13-3 burst opening the fourth quarter built a 13-point advantage for Country Day.

Calvary got as close as 49-45, but Brewer led 11 for 13 free throw aim that kept the Cajuns in control.

It was a painful end to an 18-game winning streak and a 32-5 season by the Cavaliers. But all but two of coach Vic Morris’ squad returns, led by the top three scorers: Jamison (21 per game), Jaden Hall (15) and Robert Wright (11).

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

Continue your article here…

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

NASHVILLE – Jake Brown took a sad LSU baseball series and made it better.

Slightly.

With unranked Vanderbilt already clinching the SEC season-opening series with wins on Friday and Saturday, Brown’s three-run homer lit a dormant Tigers’ offensive fuse that produced a 16-9 victory Sunday afternoon.

Brown’s blast in the top of the seventh came after LSU blew a 6-0 lead and Vanderbilt (13-8, 2-1 SEC) tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth.

After going scoreless for four straight innings, the 13th-ranked Tigers (15-7, 1-2 SEC) broke loose with eight of their 10 hits when they plated five runs each in the seventh and eighth innings.

“Our guys take a lot of pride in this,” Tigers’ coach Jay Johnson said, “ and they haven’t played as well as they want to, and there are some negative feelings that come along with those things. I loved how we took at-bats today.”

The fact LSU scored 31 runs and batted. 267 in the three-run series will be largely ignored because the Tigers’ inept pitching and shoddy fielding put them in chase mode for the majority of the first two games.

LSU trailed for 16 of 18 innings in the 13-12 Game 1 loss won on a Vandy walk-off homer, and the 11-3 Game 2 defeat in the Tigers had just four hits.

Fourteen LSU pitchers – three starters and 11 relievers – gave up 33 runs, the most ever by the Tigers in an SEC opening series. Eleven pitchers allowed runs for a terrible 11.07 earned run average.

None of LSU’s starters – Casan Evans in Game 1, Cooper Moore in Game 2 and William Schmidt in Game 3 – lasted more than four innings. They gave up a combined 15 hits (five for extra bases), 14 runs (13 earned), 25 walks, and 30 strikeouts for a 6.88 ERA.

Johnson pulled Schmidt with no outs in the fifth inning on Sunday after his back tightened.

“That guy’s health is the key to my life for the next 18 months,” Johnson said.

LSU entered the weekend ranked 206^th of 300 Division 1 teams in fielding percentage (.965), thanks to 23 errors. They added five more this weekend.

“We want to be better, our players want to be better,” Johnson said after Saturday’s loss, “and we will continue to put in the work we need to do in order to get better. I need to do what’s best for our players, so helping them to play better baseball via shifting personnel, via coaching development, is really important. I can tell you that is taking place in a very serious and thoughtful manner.”

GAME 1: VANDERBILT 13, LSU 12 – The Tigers were one and two strikes away from coming back from a 10-4 deficit for an unthinkable SEC opening comeback victory on Friday night when Vanderbilt’s Logan Johnstone hammered a two-run, two-out walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning.

A slew of disastrous pitching from both teams fueled each team’s biggest offensive innings. 

GAME 2: VANDERBILT 11, LSU 3 – Vandy starting pitcher Wyatt Nadeau allowed three runs on four hits in seven innings with two walks and 10 strikeouts on Saturday.

The Commodores scored six runs in the fifth inning to take an 8-1 lead. Pinch-hitter Chris Maldonado’s three-run homer exploded the rally.

Vandy added two runs in the sixth before LSU cut the lead to 10-3 in the seventh on catcher Omar Serna Jr.’s two-RBI single.

GAME 3: LSU 16, VANDERBILT 9 – Brown tied his career high with six RBI as he went 2 for 4 on Sunday.

After the Commodores tied the game at 6-6 in the sixth, LSU scored five runs in the top of the seventh. Shortstop Steven Milam lined an RBI single, Brown blasted a three-run homer and Seth Dardar lifted a sacrifice fly.

Vanderbilt sliced the lead to 11-9 in the bottom of the seventh.

The Tigers responded with five runs in the eighth as Brown and catcher Cade Arrambide each had two-run singles, and Omar Serna Jr. cracked an RBI single.

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

JOURNAL SPORTS

On the heels of two high-energy homecourt wins Friday and Saturday nights, the LSU Shreveport men’s basketball team heads to Kansas City today for the Sweet 16 of the NAIA National Tournament.

Fans and campus personnel will see the Pilots off at 9 a.m. as they make their way north for Friday’s game against No. 4 seed Ave Maria (Fla.).

The  Pilots program has made 21 appearances in the national tournament final site, including four of the past five years in which NAIA men’s basketball has held the first rounds at host sites other than Kansas City.

No matter the format, LSUS has been a regular in Kansas City since the program started in 2003-04.

Head coach Kyle Blankenship, who took over in 2012-13 as coach after playing as a Pilot in the mid 2000s, has been the coach for all three of LSUS’s Elite Eight appearances (2012, 2013, 2018) and both of the Fab Four teams (2013, 2018).

A win Friday for the Pilots (28-5) against Ave Maria (28-4) will send LSUS to a fourth Elite Eight in program history.

LSUS fended off both of its opponents as a host in the opening round subregional hosted on campus this past weekend, beating No. 15 seed Tougaloo 93-84 Friday night and No. 10 seed Texas Wesleyan 70-66 Saturday evening at The Docks.

The Pilots built a 21-point lead over Texas Wesleyan early in the second half, but the final minutes got tense before the Pilots secured the victory.

The Pilots were led by Khi Wallace’s double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Wallace made several key plays down the stretch, including a powerful dunk with 1:41 remaining that helped keep LSUS ahead as the Rams closed the gap.

LSUS’ Thaddeaus Johnson added 15 points, while Emareyon McDonald scored 13. In Friday’s victory, Alexzaye Johnson led the way with 23 points.

Ave Maria (28-4), which also hosted a subregional, bested No. 14 seed Texas A&M-Texarkana (84-62) and No. 6 Friends (108-102). LSUS swept three games with Texarkana, winning by 3 on the road, by 18 at home and by 15 in the conference tournament in Alexandria.

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A Shreveport woman with six prior felony theft convictions faces new felony charges after allegedly shoplifting three times at the same Target store from which she had been banned, according to the Shreveport Police Department.

Braie Breyon Allen, 32, is wanted on a warrant for felony organized retail theft and three counts of entering and remaining after being forbidden.

Detectives with the SPD Property Crimes Division said Allen allegedly pushed a shopping cart filled with unpaid merchandise past the registers at the Target store at 7110 Youree Drive on Feb. 21, 2026, after being flagged by store loss prevention associates.

Allen had been released from jail Sept. 22, 2025, following a two-year sentence for felony theft. As a condition of that case, she was prohibited from entering the Youree Drive Target location.

Detectives allege Allen returned to the same store on three occasions after her release — Oct. 29, 2025, Feb. 21, 2026, and March 7, 2026 — each time committing theft.

Anyone with information on Allen’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Shreveport Police Department at 318-673-7300 or Caddo Crime Stoppers at 318-673-7373.

6:00 am, March 13, 2026

By Frank Johnson

You run into the store for a few things — maybe it’s a Tuesday evening, you’re tired after work, and you just need the basics. But somewhere between the produce section and the checkout line, the cart gets a little fuller than you planned. A snack that looked good. A deal that seemed too reasonable to pass up. A seasonal item that just kind of… ended up in there.

Nobody’s judging. That’s just what happens when we shop in person. Grocery stores are warm, well-lit, and full of things that smell good and look appealing. They’re meant to be that way.  And most of us walk out spending more than we intended… not because we’re careless with money, but because we’re human.

Here’s what’s worth considering, though.

When you order your groceries for delivery, you’re shopping from your kitchen. From your list. Without the background music, the clever displays, or the free samples pulling you in seventeen directions. You buy what you need, you close the app, and you’re done. It turns out that’s a pretty powerful thing.

Yes, there’s a delivery fee. Yes, you tip your driver… and they deserve it. When you add it all up, you might be looking at somewhere around $12 to $17 extra per order. That’s real money, and it’s okay to notice that.

But here’s the gentle truth: most of us are already spending that — and then some — on things we didn’t plan to buy every time we walk into a store. The impulse buys, the “while I’m here” additions, the deals that aren’t really deals if you weren’t going to buy the item anyway. Research suggests the average in-store shopper routinely spends 10 to 40 percent more than intended.

So when you look at delivery that way, the fee starts to feel a little different. It’s not an extra expense so much as a swap — you’re trading unpredictable, unplanned overspending for a flat, predictable cost that you actually budgeted for. And more often than not, you come out ahead.

It’s a small shift in how you shop. But for a lot of families, it quietly adds up to real savings over time… without any sacrifice, and with a lot less temptation.

Something feels different these days for LSUS men’s basketball coach Kyle Blankenship.

It’s not that his Pilots are in the NAIA post-season tournament. That happens every year. Twenty-two in a row, to be exact.

It’s not that they won another conference tournament. That’s another non-shocker.

Perhaps it’s because instead of driving 128 miles to Alexandria or 638 miles to Salina, Kans. or 788 miles to Georgetown, Ky., Blankenship is taking a different route as he leads his team into tonight’s opening round.

He will have to go all of five miles. That’s how far it is from his house to the LSUS gym.

For the first time, Blankenship could literally walk to the arena to coach his team as it begins play in the NAIA national tournament.

Kinda nice, huh?

“I just think it’s pretty special,” Blankenship says.

As Jerry Reed once sang, there’s a long way to go and a short time to get there as the Pilots start their quest to be cutting down the nets on March 24 in Kansas City as NAIA champions.

Step One comes tonight at 7’clock against one of the great school names of all time – Tougaloo.

As you might expect, the school isn’t treating this like just another game. Mainly because it isn’t.

“We sense the anticipation within the Shreveport-Bossier community, not just at our school, to be greater than anything we’ve had for a regular season game,” Blankenship says. “We generally draw very well and have great crowds, but I think this has caught the attention of basketball fans in general in this area that may have never come out before.”

Blankenship says he doesn’t know what the capacity is at The Dock. “I don’t know what the Fire Marshal has us listed as (for capacity),” he says. “We are hoping we find out. That would be a fun problem to have.”

There will be plenty of things to catch anyone’s attention, such as a tailgate in the parking lot and other pre-game festivities with vendors and signage all sorts of things that don’t involve beating a 1-3-1 zone trap.

“I’ve had to make some phone calls to try to help out with that,” he says.

Yes, Blankenship is excited to be hosting this event instead of checking out the school’s gas credit card, but being at home also comes with its own set of “problems.” OK, maybe not problems in the truest sense of the word, but certainly things the 14-year coach must be mindful of.

“The biggest challenge will be to get our guys to understand this is different,” Blankenship says. “We don’t have them in a hotel with a set schedule like we typically would on the road. We will try to keep the same routine of when we shoot around and eat and all of that. But the time period between those; how long do we want them sitting in the gym or laying down in their apartments? When you are on the road, it can be a little bit of an advantage because they’ve got nowhere else to go. There can be a lot of distractions at home.”

But when 7 ‘clock comes around, it will all be about 40 minutes of basketball. And no matter where it’s being played, Blankenship wants his team to understand the bottom line.

“It’s win or go home,” he says. “The anticipation and excitement are at a higher level than it typically would be. They take pride in that it’s the first time in history for us to host. They’re excited to put on a show for our fans.”

Plus, in talking to Blankenship, you get the sense that this means a little bit more to the veteran coach as well. The excitement dial has definitely been turned up.

“It’s being at home, it’s the post-season, it’s one and done, it’s all of that stuff,” Blankenship says. “It’s just the pride I have for LSUS and having friends and family here. It’s pretty special.” 

Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

LAKE CHARLES – Calvary Baptist has been here before, again, and again, and again, and ….

Five state championship games in the last six seasons. No wins. Nada.

The Cavaliers can’t change the past, but they can make amends Saturday at noon when they get a championship rematch with Metairie Park Country Day in the Select Division III finals at Burton Coliseum in the LHSAA’s Marsh Madness.

A young Country Day team shocked top-seeded Calvary 59-56 last March.

“All season we’ve worked to get to this point, since last year when we played here. To get back here is a blessing, a testament to these guys’ hard work,” said Cavs coach Vic Morris.

Meeting the Cajuns again makes the scouting report, and the pregame speech, a bit easier.

“They’re a good team. They play hard, they play together,” said Morris. “We’ve been looking forward to it. That’s the matchup we want.”

Third-seeded Country Day scored – on a loose ball deflected up into the basket — with three seconds left to edge No. 2 Dunham 51-49 in Thursday’s first semifinal.

Calvary, No. 1 seeded again this year, completed setting the rematch with a dominant second half, turning a tie game into a 66-38 rout of fourth-seeded De La Salle in the ensuing matchup.

The Cavs blasted away from 33-all with a game-ending 35-5 assault, beginning with 16 unanswered points from the 1:49 mark of the third quarter into the early stages of the final period.

It evaporated a sluggish battle with eight ties and eight lead changes.

“We made some good adjustments at halftime, and in the third quarter we locked in defensively like we normally do, got some easy baskets and got these guys going,” said Morris.

All but one of De La Salle’s 13 turnovers came after halftime, most in the final 10 minutes. The New Orleanians (21-7) missed all nine of their 3-point tries after going 4-for-12 in the first two quarters.

“We had to regroup with each other, get our minds right, and get back in the game,” explained Cavs’ junior guard Jaiden Hall, who scored 13.

Calvary junior point guard Tyrone Jamison led the way with 21 points, right on his average, and 12 rebounds, double his average. Eight of his points came in the decisive 16-point burst.

“In the first half we came out kind of slow, not playing our game. We came out in the second half and did just that,” said Jamison, last year’s Class AA Most Outstanding Player on the All-State team.

Morris good-naturedly questioned his rebound total. Jamison said it was compensating for a subpar shooting start.

“Doing whatever it takes to win. First half, started out slow so I was just rebounding the ball, making plays for other guys. In the second half, it opened up for me.”

Craig Davis contributed a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and Robert Wright added 10 points to the Cavs’ onslaught. Calvary crushed De La Salle on the boards, 50-22 – including 25-8 after halftime.

The Cavaliers won their 18^th straight and are 32-4 heading into Saturday. Country Day is 23-5.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

LAKE CHARLES – Green Oaks nearly pulled off a Giant upset Thursday.

The 11^th-seeded, barely-above-.500 upstarts in the Non-Select Division III state semifinals took the No. 2-seeded Madison Chargers to the final second before falling 49-46 at Burton Coliseum in the LHSAA’s Marsh Madness event.

Javontaye Dean scored 15, Delorrian Benjamin 13, and Larry Nichols 10 for the Giants.

It was Green Oaks’ first state tournament appearance in 43 seasons, against a school with a deep playoff tradition. But the Giants’ relentless effort helped them swap leads with the Chargers until the late stages of the third quarter, and recover from a late nine-point deficit for a chance to take the lead in the final half-minute before another shot to tie it at the final buzzer.

After seven ties, Madison moved ahead to stay with 3:49 to go in the third period, 31-30, launching a 13-2 run that appeared to break open the contest.

But trailing 43-34 early in the final eight minutes, Green Oaks (17-15) bounced back. A 3-pointer by Benjamin with 3:47 to go followed by a Dean transition six-footer off glass from in front of the rim got the Giants within 45-43. Dean cut it to a one-point margin with 1:38 on a free throw, and following two Madison freebies, Benjamin answered back at the 1:14 mark to draw Green Oaks to a 47-46 deficit.

The Giants got another defensive stop and coach Demetrius Wiggins called time with 39 seconds left. But a turnover seconds later scuttled the go-ahead chance and Madison sank two free throws in the final 16 seconds.

Green Oaks missed a shot to forge a 48-all tie in the closing seconds, and after the Chargers’ last free throw make with 3.1 seconds to go, got off a wild 3-point heave from the left wing that didn’t draw iron as the buzzer sounded.

Green Oaks posted three playoff wins by a total of 16 points, including an opening 58-53 overtime victory over Many.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

NASHVILLE – LSU freshman relief pitcher Zion Theophilus has the name of a fictional character and a heart of gold.

His on-the-field contributions so far on the Tigers’ 21-man pitching staff have been minimal yet effective (3.1 innings in 3 appearances, 2.71 ERA).

But what he did off the field before Tuesday’s 8-4 win over Creighton – with slumping No. 13 LSU (14-5) just days away from the opening of SEC play here tonight vs. Vanderbilt (11-7) – was huge.

He wrote notes of positivity to members on the Tigers’ roster and placed them in their lockers.

His message to shortstop Steven Milam was “You’re the best shortstop in the country, keep hitting balls hard.”

His words to left fielder Jake Brown were, “This is what you’re good at, this is what people like about you. Believe it.”

“That kind of started a message throughout the locker room and throughout the (pregame) meeting,” said Brown, who’s hitting .413. “It was like `Let’s go out there and believe it.’ And so that’s what we did.”

Since starting this season 8-0, the defending national champions are 5-5. In this stretch, they’ve mostly lost their mojo at the plate (hitting .225), in relief pitching 5.16 ERA), and in the field (committing 15 errors).

“In games three to eight, we played as good as I think this team could play at that time,” LSU fifth-year head coach Jay Johnson said. “We lost a little bit of a sense of that. It took us too long to get to the point that we did on Tuesday. We’re going to need more of that, because that’s the only way these games that we’re about to play are going to be played.”

Johnson’s national title teams in 2023 and 2025 started the season 16-1 both times. The ’23 squad went 19-10 (one rainout) in the SEC and was 7-2-1 in league series. Last season’s squad was 19-11 in conference play, winning seven of 10 league series.

Currently, 10 other SEC teams are ranked in the top 25, and LSU will play nine of them in the 30-game league schedule.

The SEC slate isn’t as vicious as two seasons ago, when the rebuilding Tigers went 3-12 in the first half of league play, facing four teams in the first five series ranked nationally in the top 8.

But it’s still the usual daunting challenge in a conference in which five teams have won the last six national titles.

“There’s not one of the 10 (SEC teams) that we play that can’t advance to a Super Regional,” Johnson said. “It (the SEC) is like (pro) wrestling when they had the Royal Rumble with Hulk Logan, Junkyard Dog and Andre the Giant. They just threw them all in the ring at one time, and they just beat the crap out of each other and throw each other out of the ring.”

While LSU hasn’t been the only team this season to face non-conference adversity – Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas lost series to High Point, Kent State and Stetson respectively – no team has had an uncharacteristically worse start than Vanderbilt.

The two-time national champion Commodores started the season 7-2 but are 3-5 since, including a stretch of four straight losses. It’s a downer for Tim Corbin, starting his 23^rd season as Vandy’s head coach, someone Johnson calls “the best coach in college baseball since (former five-time national champion LSU head coach) Skip (Bertman).”

Vanderbilt has had an early-season run of pitching staff injuries, and its offense has been anemic.

“I’ve managed it the best we can,” Corbin said of his dwindling pitching options.

LSU hopes to get a boost this weekend from senior leftfielder Chris Stanfield. He returned to action in a reserve role against Creighton after missing 16 games with a hand injury he suffered in the season-opener vs. Milwaukee.

Last season after he transferred from Auburn, he hit .298 with 15 doubles, two triples, one homer, 31 RBI and 53 runs as the Tigers’ starting centerfielder. He was LSU’s leading hitter in SEC regular-season games, batting .326 (31-for-95) with a league-leading 14 doubles. 

“He just brings a different level of energy to the game, and that’s why he’s been so successful,” Brown said of Stanfield. “He brings a lot of life to the game, to the team, and he’s something that can make anything happen within a split second.”

LSU (13-5 overall, 0-0 SEC) vs. VANDERBILT (11-7, 0-0 SEC), Charles Hawkins Field, Nashville 

Game 1: Today, 6 p.m. CT (SEC Network+) 

LSU – So. RH Casan Evans (1-0, 4.66 ERA, 19.1 IP, 7 BB, 7 30 SO) 

VANDERBILT – Jr. RH Conner Fennell (2-0, 3.80 ERA, 21.1 IP, 3 BB, 30 SO) 

Game 2: Saturday, 7 p.m. CT (SEC Network) 

LSU – Jr. RH Cooper Moore (3-1, 2.25 ERA, 24 IP, 5 BB, 31 SO) 

VANDERBILT – Fr. RH Wyatt Nadeau (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 11 IP, 6 BB, 15 SO) 

Game 3: Sunday, 3 p.m. CT (ESPN2) 

LSU – So. RH William Schmidt (3-1, 2.45 ERA, 22 IP, 4 BB, 33 SO) 

VANDERBILT – So. RH Nate Taylor (0-3, 4.91 ERA, 28.1 IP, 12 BB, 24 SO)

LSU SERIES VS. VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt has won nine of the past 11 SEC regular-season series between the schools, but LSU leads the all-time series 62-49 with Vanderbilt. LSU swept three games from the Commodores when the teams last met in Nashville on May 19-21, 2022. 

A LOOK AT LSU

LSU is 13^th in the 16-team SEC in batting average (.291) and last in earned run average. Brown has been the Tigers’ most consistent standout. He leads the league in hits (31) and is No. 3 in RBI (28), tied for No. 4 in homers (9), No. 2 in at-bats (75), 10^th in batting average (.413) and No. 7 in slugging percentage.

A LOOK AT VANDERBILT

Vandy is batting .318 with 36 doubles, four triples, 44 homers and 20 steals in 25 attempts. Eight Vanderbilt hitters are batting .300 or better, led by infielder Ryker Waite leads the bats with a .396 average and five doubles, one triple, two homers, 14 RBI and five stolen bases. Utility player Braden Holcomb is hitting .353 and leads Vanderbilt in homers (10) and RBI (31).

The Commodores’ pitching staff has a 3.94 cumulative ERA with 180 strikeouts in 146.1 innings while allowing just a .217 opponent batting average.

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

JOURNAL SPORTS

For 22 straight years, LSU Shreveport’s basketball program has been part of the NAIA National Championship tournament subregional competition, but tonight is a first-ever experience for the Pilots.

It’s at home. LSUS hosts Tougaloo College in the Shreveport Bracket at The Dock.

Tipoff between the No. 2 seed Pilots and No. 15 seed Bulldogs is 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the subregional championship game Saturday at 5 p.m. with a berth in the NAIA’s Sweet 16 next week in Kansas City at stake.

LSUS enters the national tournament with a 26-5 record. The Pilots captured both the regular season and tournament titles in the Red River Athletic Conference. This is the first-ever home NAIA playoff game for the LSUS basketball program.

The Pilots have been one of the most productive offenses in the NAIA this season, averaging 91.2 points.

LSUS’s star is Hayden Brittingham, who averages 17.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and was named the RRAC Player of the Year, RRAC Defensive Player of the Year, and first team All-RRAC. Alexzaye Johnson, who leads the team with 5.2 assists per game, also earned first team All-RRAC honors.

Tougaloo (19-9) won the HBCU Athletic Conference Western Division title. The Bulldogs narrowly missed out on the conference tournament crown, falling to Southern-New Orleans, 84-81, in the HBCUAC finals.

The Bulldogs average 77.5 points per game. Tougaloo is paced by Antonio Patterson, who leads the team with 20.3 points per game.

The winner will face either No. 7 seed Morningside or No. 10 seed Texas Wesleyan, who play at 5 p.m. today at The Dock.

Phonetic: /be·queath/

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition

eave (a personal estate or one’s body) to a person or other beneficiary by a will.
“he bequeathed his art collection to the town”

Similar: leave, leave in one’s will. make over. pass on

pass (something) on or leave (something) to someone else.
“he is ditching the unpopular policies bequeathed to him”

Similar: hand down, hand on