In the beginning, there were modest goals for LSU this season as Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Kim Mulkey took over as the Tigers’ head coach.

Win 10 games, one more than last season. Done in the 11th game of the season as part of LSU’s 14-1 start.

Beat a ranked team. Accomplished six times, the first time in game 7 vs. Iowa State.

Win seven SEC games, one more than a year ago. Checked off in game 11 of the league schedule.

As the victories mounted for the Tigers, the goals kept adjusting. Suddenly, not only was earning an NCAA tournament berth a possibility for LSU but also being a top 16 seed and being named as a sub-regional host for the first two rounds.

“We just took it game by game and just tried to go 1 and 0 and focus on the game plan and execute,” LSU senior point guard Khayla Pointer said. “And when you put those pieces together, we win here and win here and check this column off and it led to hosting.”

The Tigers (25-5), the No. 3 seed in the Spokane Regional, hosts an NCAA tournament sub-regional for the first time since 2014 when they play SWAC regular season and tournament champion 14th seeded Jackson State (23-6) Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The winner advances to Monday’s second round vs. the winner of Saturday’s first game at 1:30 p.m. between No. 6 seed Ohio State and No. 11 Missouri State, a 61-50 winner Thursday night over No. 11 Florida State in the inaugural First Four game in NCAA women’s tourney history.

As this season has progressed, LSU went from a Cinderella to a team that finished second in the SEC in regular season play. For returning Tigers like graduate students Porter and Jailin Cherry, suddenly becoming the hunted was an adjustment.

“We're used to being the underdogs,” Cherry said. “Now we have a target on our back, and we're really going to get everybody's best game. I'm not going to say it's hard, but we gotta come to play every game. We can't slap around.”

Much to the admiration of Mulkey, who has advanced to the Sweet 16 and beyond in 15 of 19 NCAA tourneys as Baylor’s head coach including winning national championships in 2005, 2012 and 2019.

“None of us saw this coming, it's been an unbelievable year,” said Louisiana native Mulkey of her first season at LSU after 21 seasons leading Baylor. “I've been involved in 40 and 0 seasons and expectations and building a program. This is going to rank in there as a season for the record books, in a lot of ways.

“The biggest turn around in the history of the SEC. Ranked almost the top 5 in the country at one point. Competing against teams that, honestly, have much more talent, much more depth, but yet, this team believes in this coaching staff.

“This team is talented, and it's just a storybook season as far as I'm concerned, and we're going to know that no matter what happens.”

The Tigers winning two games to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014 will likely depend on the health of junior redshirt transfer guard Alexis Morris.

Morris, who averages 15.8 points, sustained strained knee ligaments early in LSU’s 56-50 win over Alabama on Feb. 24. While Morris has been rehabbing, the Tigers have had their three lowest offensive outputs of the year.

Since LSU hasn’t played since March 4 when it lost in the SEC tourney to eventual tournament champ Kentucky, Morris has had almost four weeks to heal. Wearing a left knee sleeve, she has participated in LSU’s last few practices and looked full-speed in Friday afternoon’s workout in the PMAC.

Jackson State is making its sixth NCAA tourney appearance. Last season, it lost in the first round to Mulkey-coached Baylor 101-52 in Waco and in 2008 lost to LSU 66-32 in Baton Rouge.

JSU enters Saturday’s game with a 21-game winning streak, going 18-0 in SWAC regular season play. The visiting Tigers last loss was a 99-82 decision at Troy on Dec. 20.

JSU coach Tomeka Reed said the 49-point NCAA tournament loss to Mulkey and Baylor last season gave her a blueprint to make her team better.

“In the SWAC, we play four guards and one post, and you are talking about the average height at the point guard being about 5-2, and at the four position (power forwards) the average height is about 5-9,” Reed said. “In order to compete against Power Five institutions in the NCAA, you have to match them height-for-height, pound-for-pound. I wanted my four players to be 6-2, 6-3 and I wanted my centers to be 64, 6-5.

“We had to amp up our recruiting. We needed bigger guards. I told my staff, `I want 6-foot guards, I want big post players.’”

Reed recruited six new players and convinced center Ameshya Williams-Holiday to return as a graduate student. Williams-Holiday, a 6-4 center who averages 19.5 points and 11.3 rebounds and was the SWAC Player of the Year this season, is also a three-time SWAC Defensive Player of the Year and a three-time All-SWAC first-team honoree.

“I think we match up with LSU really well,” JSU grad student guard Dayzha Rogan said. “Last year when we were here (in the NCAA tourney) ,we played Baylor, and they were big in size. We didn't have a good team with height last year, but our coach has recruited some really good players that match up in size. I think we match up with them (LSU) well offensively and defensively, so I think it's going to be a good competitive game.”