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.”