For three quarters and change on Thursday night, it was LSU that looked like the best team in the country against the No. 1, undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks.
But coach Dawn Staley’s team showed why it’s the best in the country, ultimately pulling ahead in the fourth quarter while Tigers star [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] was on the bench after fouling out.
LSU had its chances to hand the Gamecocks their first loss of the season, and it looked like a team that could compete for a national title again come March.
After the game, [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] was asked whether she perceives a clear gap between LSU and South Carolina, and while she declined to answer the question directly, her answer was a bit telling.
“You setting me up because then you have all those South Carolina people jumping on me,” Mulkey responded, per On3’s Alex Weber. “That was a good basketball game. There’s a lot of talent on both sides. A possession here, maybe we would have won it; a possession there, maybe we would have won it. But they made the plays to win it and it was just toughness.”
The Tigers will hope to respond to the loss as next on the schedule is another tricky game, this time on the road against a solid Mississippi State team.
“We will get in the film room Saturday and get ready for Mississippi State,” Mulkey said. “We will show some of the things. How did we lose the lead? Where did we not help each other on the defensive end? Was that mental fatigue? Was it not communicating?”
LSU will take on the Bulldogs in Starkville on Monday night at 6 p.m. CT.
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