By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The No. 6 LSU women’s basketball team had a legitimate opportunity to secure the final No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with an SEC Tournament championship. But once again, the Tigers failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity.
LSU’s 83-77 loss followed a familiar pattern seen in all five of its defeats this season: the Tigers have struggled to close out tight games in the second half.
IM SO TIRED OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEATING US ‼️
— Boosie BadAzz (@BOOSIEOFFICIAL) March 7, 2026
LSU (27-5, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) played some of its best basketball of the season in the first half of Saturday’s game, but it unraveled after the break.
Head coach Kim Mulkey did not have a clear answer for why her team continues to lose its poise in the most critical moments.
“I don’t really know because you’ve got seniors in that timeout. You’ve got juniors in that time-out. You’ve got sophomores and you’ve got new players, freshmen,” Mulkey said after the loss on Saturday. “They all just have those lapses like that. I don’t know.”
Defensively, the Tigers allowed South Carolina to shoot 47.5 percent (19-of-40) from the field in the final 20 minutes. In addition to failing to get timely stops, LSU struggled to secure key rebounds, allowing the Gamecocks to score 14 second-chance points in the second half. Mulkey said there were several areas where her team could have been better.
“Maybe that one last tough rebound. Maybe that one last tough defensive presence,” Mulkey said.
LSU also failed to execute the game plan on multiple occasions, including late in the fourth quarter. The Tigers trailed by five with about 45 seconds remaining but did not foul on South Carolina’s inbound despite having fouls to give. Mulkey said things did not go as planned.
“We were supposed to – we had two fouls to give. It was not that decision, I can tell you. We were going to go trap. We didn’t do it,” Mulkey said.
“There’s just a small margin of error that you can have to beat elite teams. We think we’re an elite team, but we’re not there to win those close games against the South Carolinas, the UConns. That margin of error are little things like that. We had two fouls to give, and, man, we were going to go for a steal right there, a quick trap. You don’t get it, use one of the fouls. I don’t want to say lose our composure, but we just don’t do it.”
But there were several moments where LSU appeared to lose its composure. The first came after a shot-clock violation in the first quarter when senior forward Amiya Joyner and junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley were not on the same page, leading to visible frustration from Joyner.
— Justice for Bob Starkey (@1Taniyaa) March 7, 2026
Me and lay are good.. miscommunication. My dawg 4L 🤞🏾❤️ https://t.co/BNaqSGcsCC
— Amiya Joyner (@miyaa2tall) March 8, 2026
Another tense moment came late in the game when junior guard Mikaylah Williams shoved Associate Head Coach Bob Starkey in the team huddle during a timeout with just under four minutes remaining.
— Justice for Bob Starkey (@1Taniyaa) March 7, 2026
The loss to South Carolina is not the end of the world, but the way the Tigers responded in key moments raises questions about leadership as they head into the most important stretch of the season.
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