What LSU coach Kim Mulkey said about loss to South Carolina
LSU had South Carolina on the ropes.
But the No. 9 Tigers couldn’t seal the deal against the No. 1 Gamecocks, losing an 11-point lead in the second half and falling 76-70 at home to USC.
It was the defending national champions’ 15th consecutive loss to USC dating back to 2012. South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley beat LSU in Columbia last season before winning an AP Top 10 rematch in primetime Thursday.
But coach Kim Mulkey, while frustrated with the loss, said the game still said plenty about her unit.
“I think we’re one of the top teams in the country,” she said. “Losing to South Carolina the way we did sent a message that we’re not going away.”
Here’s a quick recap of the rest of Mulkey’s press conference.
On the loss
“I thought the game came down to what it usually does. It’s just toughness, it’s experience. That was a good basketball game. Our kids fought really hard.”
“When we came out in the third quarter, the first five minutes, they were tougher than us. They were taking it at us.”
“I’m not into moral victories. Never have been. We had opportunities to win this game, and we didn’t.”
“I’m sure I’ll toss and turn all night. Don’t know if I’ll sleep much, but that’s a personality deal. We’ll learn from it just like we did when we went to South Carolina last year. We’ll learn from it.”
“It was toughness. It was just toughness. That was good for the SEC. Two good teams battling it out.”
On Angel Reese fouling out
“When you don’t have Angel Reese on the floor, it takes you out of your rhythm, it takes you out of your confidence zone.”
“When you don’t have your All-American on the floor to rebound first and guard (Kamilla) Cardoso as well, I thought we battled and did about as good as we could.”
On LSU’s overall turnaround
“We’ve created a monster, and now we have to keep feeding it. And that’s the challenging part. ... People forget how hard it is. You grind and you grind and you grind.”
“Do y’all realize what we’ve done in three years is ridiculous? But that’s what we do as competitors, as coaches, as Type A personalities. It’s hard. I’m forever grateful to the community, to LSU. We’ll just keep doing what we do.”
On the game environment
“I’m extremely proud of LSU and the atmosphere here and what we’ve created here. ... It doesn’t get any better than what we experienced tonight.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 11:18 PM.
