By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The LSU women’s basketball team is looking for a sixth-straight NCAA tournament appearance under coach Kim Mulkey this season. The Tigers have a lot of returning production from last season and welcomed impact power conference transfers in the backcourt, but late departures and injuries could leave post minutes up for grabs.
After Kate Koval’s difficult decision to leave the program at the start of the school year, sophomores Grace Knox and ZaKiyah Johnson are the only two returners with starting experience in the frontcourt. Mulkey signed a pair of former international pros, Noa Morro and Anna Minaeva, but Morro is expected to miss the start of the season and Minaeva is just 17 years old.
Mulkey said at her opening press conference in September that Morro would be sidelined as she recovers from a procedure to put a rod in her shin earlier that month after suffering a stress fracture.
“It’s not ACL and things like that that you hold your breath,” Mulkey said. “She came here with it and so you try to let it heal on its own. And in the shin, for whatever reason, it doesn’t heal like in a foot or something.”
Mulkey did not make it sound like Morro’s recovery would be an issue down the stretch and said she could be back by the end of November, but her absence will make a frontcourt that already had depth questions even more shallow. That will be a concern in a tough non-conference schedule that features UConn (Dec. 20), North Carolina (Dec. 2), Villanova (Nov. 27) and NC State (Nov. 28). Fortunately for LSU, those biggest non-conference challenges do not arrive until after Morro’s possible return, and the early-season vacancy in the post could allow for others to step up before then.
Johnson and Knox are coming off strong freshmen campaigns and with a year of experience under Mulkey, could be the starters when the season tips off against Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 2. Johnson was named to the All-SEC freshman team after averaging 9.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and one assist over 34 games. Knox averaged 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in her 33 games and made a big defensive impact.
“I think they got enough minutes as freshmen to build their confidence and for them to understand how good they are at this level, and now you take them into their second year,” Mulkey said.
However, Johnson is listed at 6-feet and Knox at 6-3, so LSU may want to find more size under the rim with Morro sidelined.
“She’s tall,” Mulkey said of the first thing fans will notice about Morro. “She’s every bit of 6-3, so with her not being down there with the post, it makes us smaller because Anna’s you’re only big right now.”
That is where the freshmen come in.
Minaeva (6-5) could help provide some of the interior rim protection the Tigers lost with Koval, and getting her involved early in the season with Morro sidelined could help give her the collegiate experience and confidence to play an impactful role when Southeastern Conference play begins.
“She’s 17,” Mulkey said. “She is going to play against outstanding post players and it’s only going to make her better.”
And Mulkey said that while she will not know how the adjustment from European ball to the physicality of NCAA basketball will go until the season really gets underway, the 17-year-old may already be ahead of the curve.
“Her body is very mature, and she’s fundamentally sound,” Mulkey said. “She has tremendous footwork.”
Joining Minaeva in Mulkey’s two-woman freshman class is 6-2 guard Lola Lampley. Although the Indianapolis, Indiana native is listed as a guard and was recruited to play a perimeter role in Baton Rouge, she was ranked as the No. 5 power forward in the 2026 class by 247sports.com and could make a similar transition inside as Johnson did last season.
“Lola is such a team player,” Mulkey said. “She may have to do what (Johnson) did last year and play inside for us because she’s taller than Grace. If you put them next to each other, she’s taller than Grace. So, Lola’s good with it. She says, ‘any way I can contribute, I just want to be on the floor giving us some minutes, coach.’”
And when Morro does return, Mulkey said she can add a new wrinkle to the offense.
“She’ll stretch the floor for you,” she said. “Noa can flat out shoot the three ball, and we will run things where we use her in that capacity. She’s not what you call a back to the basket post player. She’s more of a face up, finesse, bring her out to the three.”
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