Kim Mulkey Says Her Team Lacks Toughness After Dropping to 0-2 in SEC Play, 12th In Poll

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

The LSU women’s basketball team (14-2, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) has fallen from No. 5 to No. 12 in the Associated Press poll after losing its second straight on Sunday, 65-61, at No. 12 Vanderbilt, dropping coach Kim Mulkey to 0-2 in the league for the first time.

Vanderbilt (15-0, 2-0 SEC) rose to No. 7 in the A.P poll.

LSU’s loss also marked the first time LSU dropped its first two conference games since the 2010-11 season.

After being out-rebounded 45-29 in losing to No. 11 Kentucky on Thursday, the Tigers dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Commodores, 48-28. But it didn’t matter. LSU turned the ball over a season-high 22 times, which hurt its chances of closing out the game well in the fourth quarter.

“Discipline, fatigue, focus, 22 turnovers,” Mulkey said. “I’m telling you, the majority of them were done from upper classmen, who just for whatever reason, turned it over. We were up, you know, five, six, whatever it was, and it’s a possession game when you get to conference. We’re not talented enough to beat people like we have been, so possessions matter.”

It’s safe to say Mulkey was not impressed with her team’s effort.

“It’s an old term, but listen guys, we’re not tough enough,” she said. “We’re not tough enough. And toughness is you either have it or you don’t. And that’s all players in that locker room tonight. You’re not tough enough to make a play when we need it. You’re not tough enough to get that rebound when we need it, because it’s not just one or two. It’s the whole locker room at different times.”

Mulkey believes the lack of toughness can only be fixed by each player.

“It’s just who you are. It’s your demeanor,” she said. “You got to want it more than the opposing player, the opposing team. And maybe a mindset can change a little bit if you’re in a program and you have hard practices, which we thought we did. But maybe it’s you’ve got to have them a little bit longer to get them in that mindset.”

LSU gave up multiple key offensive rebounds in the final minutes of the game, which gave the Commodores several extra possessions.

“If you’re a baller, you’ve got to have it internally that, ‘I’m going to do my job, and if I do my job, my teammate will do her job,'” Mulkey said. “And that snowballs, and we’re just not there yet.”

The good news? It’s still early. The bad news? Many highly ranked teams will be waiting.

LSU plays at Georgia (15-1, 1-1 SEC) on Thursday (5:30 p.m., SEC Network+), then host No. 2 Texas (17-0, 2-0 SEC) on Sunday (2 p.m., ESPN).