Kim Mulkey reacts to LSU’s loss against South Carolina WBB

South Carolina and LSU women’s basketball met Saturday night in Baton Rouge for a bitter rivalry date on Valentine’s Day.

The Gamecocks came out victorious, 79-72, in the annual headline SEC matchup thanks to a game-sealing 6-0 run in the final 25 seconds of the contest.

Here’s what LSU head coach Kim Mulkey had to say after the loss:

Late-game loss

Mulkey didn’t give an opening statement to begin her postgame press conference, but instead started by addressing senior guard Flau’jae Johnson.

Johnson is LSU’s scoring and spiritual leader, and finished Saturday’s game with 21 points and eight rebounds. She missed two free throws down 73-72 with 45 seconds left, which USC took advantage of and pulled away for the win.

“What a blessing it is to have her. Now, you will focus on those last two free throws. We missed nine. There’s your difference in the ball game. Look at the stat sheet. We scored the same number of field goals, we out rebounded them nine, we were 14 for 23 from the foul line,” Mulkey said. “That’s where the game was lost. Take your free throws. You win.”

Mulkey didn’t have any explanation for the free throw struggles.

“I‘m not real sure. If I knew that, I’d be in psychology, wouldn’t I? I have no idea,” Mulkey said. “We got to the free throw line. So reward yourself. Reward yourself.”

Tessa Johnson’s second quarter

Junior guard Tessa Johnson finished with 21 points in the game, including 11 points in the second quarter.

Mulkey said how LSU guarded Johnson was the only thing she didn’t like about her team’s play.

“I liked everything we did, except I didn’t like the way we guarded Tessa. We didn’t do what we were told to do for three days,” she said.

Freshman guard Bella Hines played six minutes in the game, and was guarding Johnson in that span. Mulkey praised Hines for not backing down to the older guard.

“I saw a kid that I need to play more. She needs to take away some of the minutes of some of them, because she got out there and guarded Tessa. She wasn’t afraid to bow up to her. She made shots, she had a lot of energy and effort and she has my respect.”

MiLaysia Fulwiley’s USC reunion

A big narrative of intrigue in this year’s edition of Gamecocks vs. Tigers was the addition of junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley to the LSU roster. Fulwiley spent her first two seasons at South Carolina before hitting the transfer portal and joining up with Mulkey and the Tigers this offseason.

In terms of stats, it seems to be working out so far. Fulwiley is averaging career highs in early every statistical category, including the all-important minutes.

Fulwiley’s reunion with the Gamecocks wasn’t exactly the sweetest. She finished with six points on 1-for-8 shooting in 24 minutes. She added four rebounds and three assists, but also committed two fouls and three turnovers.

Mulkey said she didn’t do anything different with Fulwiley before the game.

“I didn’t just sit with her and have a one-on-one conversation. I think I just coached her in front of her teammates that I hope she has butterflies, because if she has butterflies, that means she’s invested in this program and she’s excited,” Mulkey said. “Don’t try to do too much, just play. And I thought she did typical Fulwiley. Give you some outstanding play, stripped Raven early in the game, got some layups, but then she turned it over, and so that’s part of who she is, and we’ve got to continue to make B-pluses when she’s in the ball game, and not minuses.”

Moving on

Mulkey concluded that her team lost not because of overarching poor play, but by failing to accomplish the tiny details.

“’It’s only one possession, coach don’t get all upset because I failed to block out, or I missed that free throw, or I had that turnover.’ They all add up, and gosh, we really, really had an opportunity to win this game tonight,” Mulkey said. “We’re not in there celebrating. I hope kids are hurting. I hope if you’re a competitor, you’re hurting individually and then collectively. It’s our job as coaches when we get back on that practice floor, to make sure we get them back in the right mindset to keep winning a few more basketball games. We’ll see. We’ll see. They’ve done it all year, so I hope that they’ll continue to do it as we finish February and head into March Madness.”

The Tigers’ coach said her team needs to learn from the loss and then keep rolling towards the end of the season.

“Eight new players, whatever we are, 20-something and four, my assessment would be keep doing what you’re doing, get this close to winning some of those games against people you’re not supposed to beat,” Mulkey said. “And we did this year. I mean, didn’t we beat Texas here? We weren’t supposed to win that game. So just keep plugging away. Stay in the right mindset and understand that there’s basketball left to be played after the regular season’s over.”