Kim Mulkey And LSU Women’s Basketball Face Toughest Challenge Yet On Sunday Against No. 2 Texas

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

The No. 12 LSU women’s basketball team will face its toughest challenge of the season so far on Sunday when the Tigers host No. 2 Texas in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (2 p.m., ESPN).

The Tigers are coming off their first conference win of the season, 80-59, at Georgia on Thursday. LSU (15-2, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) held the Lady Bulldogs to 31 percent shooting (22 of 71).

Of the Tigers’ 80 points, 44 came off the bench.

“I think the confidence I gain in them comes through practice and their job is to make me play them more as this season progresses in the SEC,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said of her depth.

But Mulkey is relying on her veteran guards in senior Flau’jae Johnson and junior Mikaylah Williams to lead the team.

“We’re just so young and new, and that’s why so much is required of Flau’jae and Mikaylah,” Mulkey said. “They have been in the system and need to make them understand and just lead us out there. It’s not about stats, it’s about leadership.”

Johnson led the Tigers in scoring in the victory over Georgia (15-2, 1-2 SEC) with 25 points. After breaking down in the fourth quarter and dropping their first two SEC games to No. 6 Kentucky and No. 7 Kentucky, Johnson wasn’t going to let another lead slip away.

“I had kind of put it in my head, like I’m not letting us lose another lead,” Johnson said. “And so I looked up at Jada (Richard) and said, ‘This is the moment in practice that we talked about where we have to value possessions.’ And you know, she kind of looked at me and was like, ‘This is the time. Like, let’s do it now.’ And I think everybody just kind of got that.”

The Tigers ended up outscoring the Bulldogs 24-11 in the fourth quarter.

Texas (18-0, 3-0 SEC) will come into Sunday’s contest as one of the most proven teams in the country. The Longhorns have ranked wins over No. 4 UCLA, No. 3 South Carolina, No. 22 North Carolina, No. 16 Baylor and No. 18 Ole Miss. Texas is coming off a dominant 97-36 win over Auburn.

The Longhorns’ offense ranks No. 3 in the country, averaging 91.6 points per game. Texas is just one of four remaining undefeated teams in the AP Top-25 (No. 1 Uconn, No. 2 Texas, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 17 Texas Tech).