LSU may have a superstar coach with national championship credentials in Kim Mulkey, as well as veteran players who have won it all before like Flau’jae Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley, but the team has had their ups and downs this year.
While the Tigers did escape with a commanding 89-73 win over Tennessee on Thursday, Mulkey was not very happy with how her players did during the first half.
Before heading to the locker rooms after the first half ended, Kim Mulkey spoke with ESPN’s Holly Rowe and voiced her displeasure at how the game was going at that time, but at the same time, she also complimented the Tennessee defense a bit.
“This is not good basketball. Anybody that’s a basketball junkie is looking at this like rec ball. That’s what it looks like out here,” she said. “You take it, that’s a hot potato. No, you take it. Defense, help side, nonexistent. It’s one-on-one basketball by both teams right now, but Tennessee makes you play that way.”
The Vols did force the Tigers to commit turnover after turnover, with the most coming from MiLaysia Fulwiley with four and freshman power forward Grace Knox with two. Still, the Tigers were able to bounce back big and win.
Tennessee Dominated Boards as Defense Forced Kim Muley’s LSU To Commit Mistakes
Tennessee kept things close against the Tigers as the game saw six lead changes and it was tied twice. However, LSU managed to stave off another home loss thanks to Mikaylah Williams, who ended the game with a double-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Fulwiley and Johnson were also good as they scored 18 points and 14 points, respectively.
LSU has a very good team that had plenty of balance, but Tennessee has shown that it could hang with the best. While Williams had 10 rebounds throughout the game, Tennessee still out-rebounded LSU in the first half, 27-18.
However, Kim Mulkey, a veteran coach that she is, adjusted well and started pulling away around the third quarter. While the Tennessee defense did give them some trouble, it was not enough as the Tigers managed to create some distance to escape the game with a Senior Night win.
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