Vanderbilt women's basketball vs. LSU: Score prediction vs Kim Mulkey, Angel Reese

Shea Ralph has a challenge for her team coming off four straight losses: be tougher.

The Vanderbilt women's basketball coach was disappointed with her squad's toughness in losses to Ole Miss and Alabama, the latter of which the Commodores (17-6, 4-5 SEC) led by double digits at one point.

That toughness will need to show up in order for Vanderbilt to have a chance against No. 12 LSU (19-4, 6-3), the best remaining team on the schedule, on Thursday (8 p.m. CT, SEC Network).

A season ago, the Tigers beat the Commodores by 25 in Baton Rouge and by 19 at Memorial Gymnasium en route to a national championship season.

Here's what to know about the matchup:

Vanderbilt on losing streak after strong SEC start

After a promising start to SEC play, winning four of its first five games, Vanderbilt has now lost each of its last four.

The problems have been multiple: second-half defensive breakdowns, Jordyn Cambridge or Sacha Washington getting in foul trouble or guards struggling to drive to the basket. The good news is that the Commodores haven't been getting blown out, but they have been running out of gas late in games.

LSU has the same issue, to a lesser extent. The Tigers' rotation frequently consists of just seven or eight players as they lean heavily on their starters deep into games. That's been an problem for them in some of their losses.

LSU has the star power with Angel Reese, Aneesah Morrow

The Tigers were the talk of the offseason due to the star power they both returned (with Angel Reese and Flau'jae Johnson) and brought in through the portal (Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow).

The depth issues notwithstanding, LSU has one of the best starting fives in the country. Reese and Morrow are likely to be especially difficult for Vanderbilt to deal with as both average a double-double. Reese has 19.3 points and 12.1 rebounds per game and Morrow has 17.9 points and 10 rebounds per game.

To have a hope of stopping Reese and Morrow, the Commodores' bigs, Sacha Washington and Khamil Pierre, will need to lock in and stay out of foul trouble.

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Coach Kim Mulkey, LSU have road woes

The Tigers are 13-1 at home, with the lone loss to undefeated, No. 1 ranked South Carolina. But their road record is just 4-2, with losses to Mississippi State and Auburn, two teams Vanderbilt has beaten.

Both of those games had raucous home crowds. The Commodores announced crowds barely over 2,000 for each of their last two home games. There's a possibility this game could be different, though. Vanderbilt's ticket website shows low availability and the cheapest available tickets on secondary sites are $35.

Vanderbilt women's basketball score prediction vs LSU

LSU 75, Vanderbilt 67: Although Vanderbilt has the defensive goods to lock down LSU's guards on the perimeter, it's harder to see the Commodores being able to shut down Reese and Morrow.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt women's basketball score prediction, scouting report vs. LSU