LSU coach Kim Mulkey defends late game decisions in loss vs. Auburn

Tiger women’s basketball suffered their first SEC loss of the season, and their second overall on Sunday, falling at Auburn by a score of 67-62. While it’s always easy to go back and question how things could have gone differently, LSU coach Kim Mulkey took some time afterwards to defend her late game decision to give the ball to star forward Angel Reese in isolation.

LSU suffers second loss of the 2023-24 women’s college basketball season

After going out and winning the national championship, all eyes are bound to be focused on you the following season. For LSU women’s basketball, this is precisely what the Tigers are experiencing, as just about every team they face is giving them everything they have.

While they’ve stayed strong for the bulk of the season, the purple and gold slipped up for just the second time all year on Sunday at Auburn. It was a hard-fought SEC battle the whole way through, but ultimately Auburn’s defense reigned supreme, leading them to a 67-62 victory in the end.

Final From Auburn pic.twitter.com/SD74EltGMR

— LSU Women’s Basketball (@LSUwbkb) January 14, 2024

After a strong first half from the Tigers of Baton Rouge, Auburn slowly inched their way back into the lead, ultimately taking over in the last few minutes of the game.

Star forward Angel Reese led the purple and gold in scoring, putting up 24 points, while forward Aneesah Morrow and guard Flau’jae Johnson accounted for 12 each. Auburn, on the other hand, spread the ball around significantly, with guard Honesty Scott-Grayson doing the bulk of scoring, recording 21 on the day.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey discusses late game decisions

While it was a fantastic game all around, for many, the big-time SEC matchup was unfortunately overshadowed by the questioning of some late-game decisions by LSU coach Kim Mulkey.

With around 35 seconds remaining in the game, the purple and gold stole the ball from Auburn and had an opportunity to tie it up. Without hesitation, the Tiger head coach put the ball in the hands of her All-American forward Angel Reese.

They would end up going isolation, and despite putting some pressure on the defense and getting close to the rim, the defense forced a turnover, and that would just about seal things for the home team.

JAMYA MINGO-YOUNG TOOK IT FROM ANGEL REESE 😱

Huge stop for @AuburnWBB! pic.twitter.com/5C86aKzrqu

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 14, 2024

When asked about the late game decision to run isolation with the 6-foot-3, junior forward, LSU coach Kim Mulkey didn’t show any hesitation with her choice.

“Well I wasn’t getting anything out of every other thing we tried to do for 40 minutes, or 38 minutes and 50 seconds, and she’s a returning All-American and I thought let’s just do a 1-4 flat,” the veteran head coach said Sunday evening. “Confidence. Trust. I let Angel bring the ball up the floor and I just thought we were struggling trying to make a pass to the wing, the wing down to her, so what the heck, just do a 1-4 flat and let’s see.”

“I talked about that with the team afterwards too. I should never have to do things like that. I should be able to do what we normally do, but during the course of trying to win a game, sometimes you think outside of the box – at that time it was to tie it.”

While the isolation play was ultimately just one possession, it’s notable that there were several instances throughout the game in which Auburn simply made winning plays. The home Tigers were able to put up four more shots than the purple and gold, which ended up being the difference in the final outcome.

“But we didn’t get two defensive rebounds down on the other end. It was really a one possession game,” Coach Mulkey reflected about the ensuing possession. “Get a rebound there and see if we can go down and try to win it or tie it, and we gave up two offensive boards.”

The LSU women’s basketball team will now shift their attention to January 21, when they’ll welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks to the PMAC for a 4:00 p.m. SEC matchup.

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