Kim Mulkey And LSU Women’s Basketball Look To Get Back On Track At Auburn On Sunday

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE. Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

The No. 5 LSU women’s basketball team will look to get back on track against Auburn on Sunday at Neville Arena (1 p.m., SEC Network) after suffering an ugly loss to No. 4 Texas on Thursday.

LSU (21-3, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) will have to show major improvement against Auburn (13-11, 2-8 SEC) before taking on No. 3 South Carolina (23-2, 9-1 SEC) on Feb. 14 at home. Head coach Kim Mulkey said her team doesn’t have time to dwell on its worst loss of the season and recognizes every team in the SEC will give LSU its best shot.

“It is brutal,” Mulkey said after the loss to Texas on Thursday. “You have to have a short-term memory. Flush it, learn from it and get ready for the next ranked opponent, and that’s all the way to the end.”

LSU will look to correct a multitude of mistakes in Sunday’s matchup with Auburn, especially taking care of the ball after committing 19 turnovers against the Longhorns. Mulkey wants her team to do more than simply limit turnovers moving forward.

“It wasn’t just the turnovers. It was poor shot selection,” Mulkey said. “That’s equivalent to a turnover to me, just taking poor shots. You’ve got to take care of the ball and execute the game plan.”

LSU, which boasts the No. 1 scoring offense in the country, scored a measly 64 points while shooting 41.7% against the Longhorns — its second-lowest shooting percentage this season.

Auburn may not have one of the conference’s best records, but LSU can’t afford to sleepwalk through a tune-up game before hosting the Gamecocks in Baton Rouge.

Freshman guard Harissoum Coulibaly leads Auburn, entering Sunday’s contest averaging 10.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

It will also be another battle in the paint for LSU’s post players Sunday, as Auburn’s 6-5 junior forward Quanirah Montague averages 4.5 rebounds per game.

In her five seasons at LSU, Mulkey is 5-1 against Auburn.