By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The No. 5 LSU women’s basketball team (13-0) has been blowing teams out left and right. But come New Year’s Day, wins won’t come as easy as the Tigers start Southeastern Conference play against No. 12 Kentucky (12-1) at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7 p.m., SEC Network+).
LSU’s doesn’t have much combined SEC experience, either. The Tigers only brought back four returners this season. Among them is a valuable one, though, in sophomore starting point guard Jada Richard, who didn’t see major minutes in conference play last season.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey is counting on Richard to be an extension of Mulkey herself on the court.
“Your job is to basically say, ‘Coach I got this. I know everything we need to do,’” Mulkey said of Richard’s role. “And that’s everything that’s required of her. It’s an unselfishness that you have to have.”
Before SEC play begins, LSU hosts Alabama State Sunday (3 p.m., SEC Network) after beating Texas-Arlington, 110-45, on Sunday. Richard scored 10 points in that game with five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Kim Mulkey sits starting forward Zakiyah Johnson, but “it ain’t a big deal,” Mulkey said. “And it ain’t grades. Just a little Momma pat on the hand. She knows why she didn’t play.” Freshman Grace Knox dominates in win.@andrechampagnee https://t.co/3XPKyoylUp
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) December 21, 2025
Richard has always played point guard. In high school, she scored 2,886 points in leading Lafayette Christian Academy to four state titles. But Mulkey doesn’t need her to be the scorer she once was.
“Jada has a beautiful shot, and Jada can score the ball,” she said. “But that’s not your first priority. It’s about everybody else. And when everybody else does well, then it’s a reflection of you. And she won all those state championships in high school. She had to shoot it. All that’s great. And you’re going to get your shots. But it’s everything else you have to do. You have to defend. You have to make the first pass. You’ve got to know what defense to call. You’ve got to be responsible for every position on that floor.”
This season, Richard has shown huge improvement from her first season with the Tigers. The Opelousas native is averaging 7.1 points, 3.4 assists and 1.5 steals a game.
“She’s real comfortable having played just the one position, but she’s just getting better,” Mulkey said. “Her demeanor, her body language – all that is a part of it. And so, she’s really in a lot of ways separated herself from that freshman year, and I’m really pleased with Jada.”
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