As Auburn struggles to find its footing after two straight conference losses, it will have to do so without one of its key pieces.

Forward Jordan Greenleaf, one of the team’s two seniors, has been dismissed from the team “for personal reasons,“ an Auburn spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

The spokesman said Tigers coach Nell Fortner had no further comment on the matter.

Greenleaf, a Rex, Ga., product, has started all of the Tigers’ 23 games this season and was third on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg) and its leading rebounder (7.4 rpg).

The 6-foot-1 senior had two double-doubles on the season, leading the Tigers in scoring four times and rebounding 12 times, and ranks ninth on Auburn’s all-time list in rebounds and sixth in blocks.

Chantel Hilliard, a 6-foot-2 junior, is expected to start in place of Greenleaf when the Tigers (13-10, 6-4 SEC) travel to LSU (16-9, 6-5) at 7 p.m. tonight.

Hilliard, scored 12 points starting in place of the Tigers’ other senior, Alli Smalley – who was battling illness – in Auburn’s loss to Mississippi State on Sunday. She is averaging 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game this year.

Greenleaf scored 4 points and grabbed five rebounds in 32 minutes Sunday, and was the Tigers’ leading scorer with 12 points the last time they met LSU, a 65-53 Auburn win at home Jan. 16.

The Tigers have struggled offensively since their win over LSU.

Auburn is averaging only 47.0 points over its past five games – two wins and three losses – the low points coming over the past two games in a 69-38 loss at Kentucky and a 57-45 loss to the Bulldogs, who were previously winless in the SEC, on Sunday.

The Tigers are shooting only 34.2 percent from the field over the past five games, committing 20.8 turnovers per game, and have lowered their season point-per-game average by 4.4.

“Our offense is not good right now,” Fortner said after Sunday’s loss. “We’re not shooting the ball well and not getting enough shots on the floor. We have to figure how to get better shots on the floor and make a few more.”

LSU will be a tough team for Auburn to get going against.

The Bengal Tigers’ defense is among the best in the SEC, giving up a league-best 52.9 points per night and allowing opponents to shoot only 34.7 percent, good for second in the league.

And, in an even more meaningful stat without Greenleaf, LSU is tied for third in the league in rebounding margin, outboarding opponents by an average of 4.8 per game.

“LSU is such a good team. They have experience, good shooters and that home court advantage,” Fortner said. “We are going to have to be ready go in there and shoot the ball well, rebound well and make sure we defend them well.”

Sophomore Blanche Alverson is now the Tigers’ leading rebounder (4.3 per game) as well as their leading scorer (11.8 ppg).

LSU has weapons inside and out, with sophomore guard Adrienne Webb – from Sparkman High near Huntsville – averaging 13.3 points per game and knocking down 63 3-pointers this season, and 6-2 forward LaSondra Barrett adding 12.1 points per game in the post.

“We have to play great defense, we have to rebound the ball well, those two things have to happen,” Fortner said. “We have been in there before in tough situations and have won. We know what it is like to win there, we just have to go there and get that same kind of feeling and play that same kind of ball.”

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