GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mikaylah Williams made two free throws to pull LSU women’s basketball within five of South Carolina in the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament semifinals.
Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley called timeout and LSU coach Kim Mulkey gathered her team to hand out the game plan.
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The plan?
Set the trap and if the Tigers couldn’t get a steal, foul as LSU had two to give. South Carolina guard Raven Johnson ended up dribbling out most of the remaining 45 seconds and the sequence ultimately led to a layup by Madina Okot that put South Carolina up by seven.
At the point, it was over. LSU (27-5) went on to lose the Gamecocks 83-77 on Saturday, March 7, inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena, ending its stay at the conference tournament in the semifinals for a second straight season and fourth in the five years Mulkey has led the program.
MORE LSU WBB COVERAGE LSU women’s basketball topped by South Carolina at SEC Tournament: Score, highlights
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“We had two fouls to give,” Mulkey said. “It was not that decision, I can tell you. We were going to trap. We didn’t do it. There’s just a small margin of error that you have to beat elite teams. We think we’re an elite team but we’re not there to win those close against the South Carolinas, the UConns. That margin of error are little things like that.
“I don’t want to say lose our composure, but we just don’t do it. That’s why you stay in a locker room tonight, to teach. ‘You guys that were on the floor, tell me why we didn’t go that.’ OK? Tell me why, ‘when you come out of that timeout, we didn’t run this play.’ Just teaching moments on a big stage like this.”
Here’s what else Mulkey said after LSU’s deflating loss to South Carolina.
Kim Mulkey on LSU women’s basketball’s mental lapse late vs South Carolina
“Maybe just being in that moment numerous times. Experience. I don’t really know because you’ve got seniors in that timeout. You’ve got juniors in that timeout, you’ve got sophomores and you’ve got new players, freshmen. They all just have those lapses like that. I don’t know.”
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Kim Mulkey on moving Jada Richard to the wing vs South Carolina
“What I know Jada can do, Jada can shoot the basketball. So I put her on the wing. South Carolina played a lot of zone today and didn’t want Jada at the top. She’s easier to guard in the zone than putting her at the wing and let (MiLaysia Fulwiley) penetrate, find the shooters and Jada was knocking down shots.”
Kim Mulkey on MiLaysia Fulwiley’s performance vs South Carolina
“She wants to do good. The little added sugar to it is she’s playing against the team she left. So she wants to do good and I thought she played her heart out. MiLaysia’s game is such that she’s going to do something you’ve never seen before on the floor, so don’t blink. Then she’s going to make you pull your hair out the next time. I didn’t think she had just ‘pull our hair out’ moments tonight. She shot it, I’d say, OK. And then when I looked at the box, she has 21 shots. OK. Get her in the open floor and she’s very difficult. She just has unbelievable speed and quickness. But she doesn’t really care about that tonight. What she cares about is she loss. She cares about her team losing and how good she played here. What does it really mean if you lose?”
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Kim Mulkey details why LSU didn’t foul late in loss to South Carolina
