By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Two things have been consistent throughout Kim Mulkey’s 25-year career as a women’s college head basketball coach.
The first is winning – 750 wins, an average of 30 per year.
The second is her disdain for conference tournaments.
Although her Baylor teams won the Big 12 Tournament 11 times in 21 seasons, her squads had already wrapped NCAA tournament at-large berths.
Now in her fourth season at LSU, Mulkey has annually been in the same situation, like tonight at 7:30 CT when the third-seeded Tigers (27-4 overall, 12-4 SEC) open play in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals vs. No. 11 seed Florida. The Gators upset sixth-seed Alabama, 63-61, in Thursday night’s second round.
“I’ve always had a hard time with conference tournaments,” Mulkey said after Sunday’s regular season ending 85-77 home loss to Ole Miss. “I don’t understand how they benefit you if you’re a top seed.
“I think conference tournaments maybe make money for people. Maybe conference tournaments are good for Cinderellas (underdogs trying to spring upsets). But how many Cinderellas do you really have in the women’s game?”
LSU will be without All-SEC first-team honoree Flau’Jae Johnson, who suffers from shin inflammation. Mulkey decided after the Tigers’ overtime loss at Alabama last Thursday that she would sit Johnson until LSU likely hosts an NCAA regional starting March 21 or 22.
“Flau’Jae has been able to convince the doctors and the trainers that she could go ever since it started two weeks ago,” Mulkey said. “I just watched her. I know her skill level. I’m like,`Why are we doing this? You’re not going to increase your NCAA Tournament seed.'”
Without Johnson, LSU stumbled badly vs. the Rebels. After leading 44-31 at halftime, the Tigers’ turnover-riddled offense was stagnant in the second half as the Rebels outscored LSU 54-33 in the final two quarters.
Johnson’s absence means more scoring falls on LSU’s other All-SEC first team selections — forward Aneesah Morrow (18.2 ppg, 14 rpg) and guard Mikaylah Williams (15.9 ppg), the sophomore from Bossier City’s Parkway High School
There’s also the fact that Johnson’s ball-hawking defense is greatly missed.
“We just need to bring Flau’Jae’s defense mentality and presence to the floor,” Williams said. “We need to be able to guard the people in front of us.”
The Tigers’ interior defense has been suspect all season. Whether it’s Sa’Myah Smith or Arkansas transfer Jersey Wolfenbarger, opposing teams are getting the ball to their post players with alarming frequency.
“We (LSU’s post players) allow people to bury us,” Mulkey said. “When (standing) behind (the opposing post) and you’ve got two feet in the paint, nothing good happens. You’re either gonna foul, or they’re gonna score.”
Mulkey is trying to avoid a three-game losing streak for just the third time in her storied career. The last time a Mulkey-coached team lost three straight games was at Baylor in 2007-08. The Bears lost their last two regular-season home games and then lost the Big 12 tourney opener to Texas.
Speaking of the Longhorns, a first-year SEC member and league regular-season co-champs, they play Ole Miss on Friday, with the winner facing the Florida-LSU winner in Saturday’s 6 p.m. CT semifinals.
“With Flau’Jae, we’ve got to deal with what we got to deal with,” Mulkey said. “We’ve got to deal with where we’re deficient at some spots on the court. You deal with it and you just keep going. We’ve had a great year and we’re going to keep trying to win more games.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com