This evening, Thursday January 25, two of the greatest coaches in women’s basketball history will face off in Baton Rouge, LA. With coach Dawn Staley and No. 1 South Carolina making their way to the PMAC to face off against coach Kim Mulkey and No. 9 LSU women’s basketball, it has the potential to be a coaching matchup to remember. Still, if you ask coach Mulkey, this game should and will be more about the players on the court than anything else.
LSU women’s basketball vs. South Carolina outcome will be decided by ball players
It’s not often you get to bear witness to a women’s college basketball matchup as electric as we will see in the PMAC this evening. No matter what angle you look at it from, whether that be coach Kim Mulkey vs. coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina vs. LSU women’s basketball or even just No. 1 vs. No. 9, tonight’s matchup has everything a fan could ever want.
Heading into this evening, a large portion of the media attention has and will continue to be on the coaches. It’s for good reason too. Through over 50 total seasons, the pair has combined for well over 1,000 career wins.
As fun as it will undoubtedly be to watch either coach working from the sideline, coach Kim Mulkey warns fans not to forget about what will ultimately decide the final outcome. It’s going to be the players on the floor who make the winning (or losing) plays.
“It’s just one game. It’s gonna be a fun game,” the Tiger head coach began during Wednesday’s media availability. “It’s gonna be a game where you’re gonna see some talent on the floor – and I’ve always said this. In close games – if it should be a close game – I’m not out-coaching Dawn. Dawn’s not gonna out-coach me. It’s gonna be ballers out there making plays. And that’ll be fun for all of us to see.”
Through the 2023-24 season, both teams are playing at an elite level, with LSU having logged the only two losses between the pair thus far.
Notably, in this evening’s matchup, we’ll see some of the best all-around talent that we’ve seen all year. While there’s spectacular players throughout the country, both of these rosters are filled with future WNBA players, as well as current and past All-Americans.
Some players of note for the Gamecocks are center Kamilla Cardoso, point guard Te-Hina Paopao and forward Ashlyn Watkins. For the Tigers, keep an eye on forwards Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow, as well as point guard Hailey Van Lith.
When and where to watch
As things stand, South Carolina is the current overwhelming favorite, making the Tigers underdogs for the first time this season. According to DraftKings, the spread sits around -7.5 in favor of the Gamecocks, with an over/under of 150.5.
This single-digit spread is notable, as the last time the two teams faced off, coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina came away with a dominant 88-64 victory in what was a matchup of the undefeated last February.
The biggest difference from last year is that LSU women’s basketball vs. South Carolina will take place in Baton Rouge. College GameDay will first get things going at 6:00 p.m. CST, while the actual tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CST.
The game is set to take place in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and will be available to watch live on ESPN.
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