LSU Tigers coach Kim Mulkey talked about her conference rival coach once again ahead of their much-awaited matchup in the 2025-26 regular season. On Saturday, Feb. 14, Mulkey and her Tigers are scheduled to face off against coach Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks in the former’s home arena, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
On Thursday, Feb. 12, Mulkey was a guest on 104.5 ESPN’s “Off The Bench” show, where she was asked about what are some of the factors that her team considers whenever they scout the Gamecocks ahead of their matchup. Mulkey then shared a couple of facts that they emphasize, while candidly talking about her feelings towards Staley overall, as they’ve been rivals for some time now.
“Well the first thing you circle is, ‘Man, they’re good. They’re talented,” Mulkey said at 4:52. “There’s high school All-Americans all throughout that lineup.’ And the second thing is you’re dealing with a coach that’s won three championships, a coach that has coached in the Olympics, played in the Olympics. So, you know you’re getting the total package, and you know it’s going to be a tough hard-fought game. They’re going to play you, man. They’ll mix in some more zone,” Mulkey explained.
Mulkey’s LSU has an impressive overall record of 22-3 (8-3 SEC) so far and is tied for fourth in the SEC standings. Meanwhile, Staley and the Gamecocks currently possess an overall record of 24-2 (10-1 SEC) and are top of the conference. Both programs are looking to get back to the collegiate basketball mountaintop as they have won the NCAA title in three of the last four years: South Carolina in 2022 and 2024 and LSU in 2023.
Kim Mulkey Also Discussed What Facing Their Rivals Feel Like In Latter End Of The Regular Season
Also during her interview on the 104.5 ESPN’s “Off The Bench” show, Kim Mulkey expounded on her thoughts towards Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks in the context of the NCAA tournament, which is nearing its start date. For Mulkey, she believes that both programs are established enough that it will just be a toss-up on who will actually win as there is no clear formula to confirm a triumph for either side.
“I don’t think there’s any secrets when you reach the middle of February. Both programs, pretty much, are established on what their beliefs are both offensively and defensively. You might throw a little wrinkle in here and there. It might work, it might not work. But, it’s just two teams that have established themselves in the elite of women’s basketball,” Mulkey shared.
