Kim Mulkey Says LSU Has To Take Care Of Ball After Turnovers Plague Tigers In 77-64 Loss To No. 4 Texas

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

The No. 5 LSU women’s basketball team dropped its third game of the season to No. 4 Texas 77-64 on Thursday night at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

So, is the sky falling?

Not exactly. But the Tigers have plenty to clean up.

LSU (21-3, 7-3 Southeastern Conference for 5th) came in as the No. 1 scoring team in college basketball with 99 points a game and were held to a shocking 35 points below that. The Tigers, who had but 11 points in the fourth quarter, had scored 100 points or more 12 times, including in a 103-63 win over No. 24 Alabama on Sunday. The 64 points were the lowest since a 65-61 loss at No. 11 Vanderbilt on Jan. 4 that put the Tigers at 0-2 in the SEC.

Turnovers plagued LSU, which trailed by as many as 17 twice in the fourth quarter at 71-54 and 73-56. The Tigers committed their second most miscues of the season with 19 against the Longhorns (22-2, 7-2 SEC) as guard Rori Harmon grabbed six in becoming Texas’ all-time steal leader with 351.

“And 16 of those were from your main perimeter players,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “When you play Texas, they’re going to be full-court pressing for 40 minutes. And it’s not going to go away, and you just got to take care of the ball and execute.”

Junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley led the team with six turnovers, while junior guard Mikaylah Williams had five, feeling the pressure from Harmon. Senior guard Flau’jae Johnson had three turnovers, and sophomore guard Jada Richard had two. But it was more than turnovers. The offense often could do nothing. The Tigers went without a field goal in the fourth quarter until 1:53 remained and were outscored in the final period by nine points. LSU shot

“It was just poor shot selection,” Mulkey said. “That’s as equivalent to me as a turnover. I just thought that shot selection tonight by our main guards was not very good, and Texas creates a lot of that with how they play defensively.”

Williams had a strong night offensively, scoring 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting. But her fellow starters in the back court struggled. Johnson and Richard combined for 13 points on an alarming 4-of-24 shooting (16.6 percent).  

Fulwiley added nine points on 4-of-9 shooting, but Mulkey said she has to find a way to take care of the ball.

“She missed a couple of layups, wide open tonight,” she said. “You can’t beat anybody good, having six turnovers. But she was trying to make things happen.”

In two of LSU’s three losses this season (at No. 7 Vanderbilt and at No. 5 Texas), the Tigers have turned the ball over 19 or more times. If the Tigers want any shot at making a legitimate run in March, cutting down turnovers will be critical.

LSU plays at Auburn (13-11, 2-8 SEC) on Sunday (1 p.m., SEC Network).

Then it’s No. 3 South Carolina (23-2, 9-1 SEC), which is in first place in the league, on Saturday, Feb. 14, in prime time at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7:30 p.m., ABC).