Rebounding Struggles Sink LSU In Season-Ending Loss To Duke

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

On a night when LSU needed big plays from its post players, the Tigers’ frontcourt came up short.

Duke ended LSU’s season on a buzzer-beating three-pointer, sending Kim Mulkey and her team back to Baton Rouge heartbroken. But in the end, it wasn’t just the final shot that doomed LSU.

LSU (29-6, 12-4 Southeastern Conference) struggled to box out throughout the game and it proved costly. While both teams finished with 41 rebounds, the numbers were misleading. LSU allowed a season-high 21 offensive rebounds, which Duke converted into 19 second-chance points.

Mulkey said LSU’s inability to secure key rebounds was the difference on Friday night.

“Rebounding and second-chance points really beat you,” Mulkey said after the loss. “I think 19 points they got off second-chance. We couldn’t grab a rebound. And you look at the stats, and we had the same number of rebounds, but that’s misleading. We just couldn’t get three stops in a row. We couldn’t rebound the ball so that we could take off in transition. It was kind of like we were moving in mud.”

One of the most crucial moments came in the final seconds. Duke had a chance to take the lead with 9.2 seconds remaining but missed a go-ahead three. LSU, however, failed to secure the rebound, and after the ball was last touched by the Tigers, Duke retained possession with 2.6 seconds left – setting up the game-winning shot.

I know games don’t come down to one play, but if #LSU is able to come down with this rebound, they are playing on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/j3UaYbJ43x

— Andre Champagne (@andrechampagnee) March 28, 2026

Games are rarely decided by a single play, but it’s easy to see LSU would likely be playing on Sunday had it secured that rebound. And Even Mulkey knows it.

“There was that long rebound,” Mulkey recalled. “We get that, we’re going to win the ball game. And we couldn’t get that one.”

LSU’s post players also struggled offensively. The Tigers’ four post players combined for just 16 points, with sophomore Kate Koval and freshman ZaKiyah Johnson held scoreless. The group was also outrebounded, 26-16, by Duke’s frontcourt.

Defensively, LSU had no answer for Duke’s post players, who combined for 42 points on 15-of-35 shooting (42.8%).

The Tigers managed to get stops at times, but Mulkey said the lack of consistency was a major issue.

“We couldn’t get three defensive stops in a row,” Mulkey said. “We call that kill. We had one kill all night. And they were able to get some second-chance points, even to the end. We just couldn’t get two possessions ahead. We were always catching up.”

Friday’s loss ultimately came down to LSU’s inability to consistently execute two staples of Mulkey’s teams – defense and rebounding. Moving forward, the Tigers will need to reestablish a dominant presence in the post to open up their guard play the way they did in 2023 and 2024.