Court Storm Warning ... If No. 1 South Carolina Falls At No. 9 LSU, Look Out! Tickets Going For More Than $2,000 As Sellout Nears

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - If your sports sensibilities do not approve of fans storming courts or fields after huge wins, you may not like what could happen Thursday night.

If the No. 9 LSU women's basketball team (18-2, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) upsets No. 1 South Carolina (17-0, 5-0 SEC) at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (8 p.m., ESPN), it could happen.

LSU has lost twice since winning their first basketball national championship in history - men or women - last April with a 102-85 win over Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark in Dallas.

LSU dropped from No. 7 after losing 67-62 at unranked Auburn on Jan. 14, and Auburn is only 13-6 and 2-4. LSU was No. 1 entering this season, but has not been close to that since a 92-78 loss to Colorado in its opener on Nov. 6.

South Carolina has been No. 1 ever since.

The 13,215-seat Assembly Center neared a sellout as of Tuesday morning with court side tickets going for $2,373 via Vivid Seats. Stub Hub listed even upper level seats at $1,000.

LSU may be reigning national champions, but there are scores to settle with South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley.

Since taking over at LSU before the 2021-22 season, coach Kim Mulkey is 0-2 against South Carolina and Staley and 2-3 overall against her. On Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 12, 2023, No. 1 and 24-0 South Carolina schooled No. 3 and 23-0 LSU to the tune of 88-64 in Columbia, South Carolina, on ESPN.

South Carolina's Dawn Staley Leads LSU's Kim Mulkey

That followed a 66-60 loss by No. 13 LSU at home to No. 1 South Carolina on Jan. 6, 2022.

Kim Mulkey won the national championship last season in just her second season at LSU with a win over Iowa and Caitlin Clark. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

"All I ever want is for players to have that feeling of what it feels like to win a championship," Mulkey said after LSU's 99-68 win over Arkansas on Sunday. "To win a game you're not supposed to win, to run out that tunnel and look around and go, 'Wow.' To leave a game, and you can't get to your car without security."

That will happen if LSU upsets South Carolina Thursday night.

LSU's Kim Mulkey Has 4 National Titles To 2 By Dawn Staley

Mulkey, 61, has won four national championships as a head coach - three at Baylor (2005, 2012, 2019) and one at LSU (2023).

Staley, 53, has won two at South Carolina (2017, 2022).

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley argues a call. (Getty Images)

A rematch last season did not happen between LSU and South Carolina in the SEC Tournament as the Tigers fell to Tennessee in the second round. South Carolina won the tournament. But it was right there in the Final Four in Dallas as LSU beat Virginia Tech, 79-72, in the first semifinal on Friday, March 31. But later that night, Iowa upset 36-0 South Carolina, 77-73, to reach the national championship game. LSU and Angel Reese overpowered Iowa and Clark, 102-85, two nights later.

LSU's Angel Reese Is 3rd Nationally In Rebounding

While South Carolina has lost all five starters from last season, Reese is back and leads LSU with 12.1 rebounds a game for third in the nation. South Carolina's Kamilla Cardosa is 17th in rebounding with 10.7 a game. Reese also leads LSU in scoring with 19.9 a game for 25th nationally.

Angel Reese is a force inside for LSU as she is third in the nation in rebounding with 12.1 a game. (Photo By Matthew Hinton, USA TODAY Sports).

South Carolina is fifth in the nation in scoring defense with 52.1 points allowed a game, while LSU is 117th with 61.4 given up a game. But the Tigers lead the nation in scoring with 91.6 a game to 90.8 by South Carolina for fourth.

South Carolina-LSU Is The Matchup Of Season So Far

"What you're seeing is probably the effect of how we prep as a program," Dawn Staley said of her team's undefeated season with all new starters. "And hopefully, it's the legacy that our seniors have left with us. We're fortunate we're talented."

It is THE matchup of a young season in women's college basketball, which reached historic heights last year in television ratings. The LSU-Iowa championship game peaked at 12.6 million viewers and averaged 9.9, which was more than every game NBA playoff game in 2022 other than the finals. The South Carolina-Iowa semifinal averaged 5.6 million viewers and peaked at 6.6 million.

"It has to be the personalities," Kim Mulkey said. "It has to be the more media attention."