Tag: Alexis Morris

COLUMN: This year’s LSU women’s basketball team wasn’t equipped to play at the top of the sport

This LSU squad ultimately lacked the pieces that carried the team to a national title last season.

LSU’s championship hopes came crashing down after it ran into the force that is Caitlin Clark.

Iowa got off to a hot start before LSU managed to sustain a run of its own. It was reminiscent of the early run LSU went on in last year’s game, overwhelming Iowa with active defense and physicality in the post.

But then, [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] left the game with an ankle. She would return, but she wasn’t the same player that dominated the first quarter. Iowa took control in the second half and closed it out.

Reese’s ankle certainly played a factor and if she’s healthy, maybe LSU is advancing to the Final Four. But that’s not the reason LSU lost that game.

LSU’s going home because this team wasn’t capable of winning a title. That’s not an indictment of any individual, from Reese to [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag], but this team, as a whole, lacked something.

Last year’s team had all the right pieces. Think back to that 102-85 victory over Iowa in the national title. It wasn’t just Reese and [autotag]Flau’jae Johnson[/autotag]. The difference was [autotag]Jasmine Carson[/autotag] coming off the bench and hitting five threes. [autotag]Ladazhia Williams[/autotag] scored 20 points in the post. In the backcourt, [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag] scored 21 and [autotag]Kateri Poole[/autotag] went two for two from behind the arch.

But this year, when Reese went cold with the ankle, the supporting cast didn’t immediately answer the call. Johnson did eventually, with a strong second half, but it was too late. Iowa already seized momentum.

LSU had three chances this year to secure a win against one of the top teams in the sport. Two against South Carolina and again on Monday against Iowa. LSU was competitive but went 0-3 in those games. At some point, we just have to admit this team wasn’t equipped to play at the top of the sport this year.

Coming off the national title, LSU was favored to do it again. Returning Reese and Johnson along with the transfer additions of [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] led many to believe this team would be even better.

But as the year went on, cracks started to emerge. Poole was dismissed from the team while [autotag]Sa’Myah Smith[/autotag] tore her ACL. Van Lith struggled to transition to a true point guard role. Mulkey expressed frustration as LSU struggled to defend, play in transition and protect the ball.

LSU was upset by Colorado, Auburn and Mississippi State. Three solid teams, but all well below LSU’s talent level.

I said this team lacked something, but it’s hard to say what that exact something is. If LSU had a point guard like Morris out there, is that enough to push LSU over the edge?

That wouldn’t solve the inconsistency we saw from this team or the inability to keep up with Iowa’s three-point shooting.

This team had no glaring weakness, but it had enough. And put together, it was enough to end LSU’s year. The Iowa loss is disappointing, but there’s a reason LSU was an underdog to begin with.

The immediate future is unclear. Reese and Van Lith both face WNBA decisions while Mulkey is sure to look in the transfer portal for some help at guard and improved depth.

Still, it’s hard to not trust Mulkey after her first three years in Baton Rouge. LSU will be back.

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Kim Mulkey on how LSU will deal with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark

Kim Mulkey said you can’t stop Caitlin Clark, you can only hope to contain her.

LSU punched its ticket to Elite Eight on Sunday with a 78-69 over UCLA. Later in the day, Caitlin Clark and Iowa punched a ticket of their own, setting up a much-anticipated rematch of last year’s national title game.

Despite winning 102-85, the Tigers still had trouble with Iowa star Caitlin Clark, who scored 30 and drained eight three-pointers.

“You’re not going to stop (Clark). You can only hope to contain her,” LSU head coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] said on Sunday.

Mulkey said [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag] was tasked with guarding Clark the majority of the time, but this year, expect more of a rotation.

“Each of us are a new team. We’re not the same team we were last year, nor are they, but you certainly have some key pieces,” Mulkey said.

“You can be very good defensively and she’ll still score on you. She’s that good,” Mulkey said of Clark.

In the NCAA Tournament, Clark is averaging 29.3 points per game along with 9.33 assists.

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Washington Post releases profile of LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey

While some former players were critical of Kim Mulkey’s style, the profile didn’t feature any new allegations against the LSU coach.

After a week of speculation and a cloud hanging over the LSU women’s basketball program amid its NCAA tournament run, The Washington Post finally released its profile (subscription required) of coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] on Saturday morning ahead of the Tigers’ Sweet 16 game against UCLA.

The profile, reported on for more than two years by Kent Babb, wasn’t exactly the “hit piece” that some expected. It focused mostly on Mulkey’s career history and relationships with players, and it doesn’t feature any new allegations against the coach, who has been no stranger to controversy throughout her career.

Mulkey is painted in the piece as a coach who is respected for her effectiveness by her former players, though they are often critical of her management and disciplinary style.

[autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], who was suspended earlier this season for four games, was the subject of one section of the profile in which Mulkey apparently told a supporter via email last season that Reese was left off an awards list due to her GPA. In another email, she complained that Reese is one of several players who “stay on that social media crap.”

Reese did not provide comment for the story from The Washington Post.

Much of the story centers around Mulkey’s alleged discomfort with her players’ sexualities. This isn’t a new allegation; in 2013, former Baylor star Brittney Griner alleged that Mulkey advised players to keep quiet about their sexualities.

Several other former Baylor players went on the record with The Washington Post to echo those allegations, adding that Mulkey would often comment negatively on the way players dressed or wore their hair.

In the article, former LSU star [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag] takes issue with that characterization of Mulkey.

“Coach Mulkey is not homophobic,” Morris said definitively, per Babb.

Mulkey, who in a recent press conference threatened legal action against the newspaper if it published a “false story” about her, declined comment multiple times for the story, though Babb was in contact with her attorneys, as shown in the profile.

She was asked by ESPN’s Holly Rowe about the post ahead of Saturday’s game and said that she hadn’t read it and probably wouldn’t, though she said she wasn’t surprised by the timing.

With The Washington Post story now published, the Tigers seek to put the distraction behind them and return to the Elite Eight in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08.

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Is Angel Reese hinting at a return to LSU next season with cryptic social media post?

Angel Reese is projected as a top 10 WNBA draft pick, but she still has another season of eligibility.

The LSU women’s basketball team will return home next Sunday for its final game of the regular season, and star forward [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] is one of the players who will be honored as part of the Senior Day festivities, LSU announced on Saturday.

But Reese, a fourth-year junior with one remaining season of college eligibility, does not have to leave for the WNBA draft despite meeting its requirements. And while it’s been assumed this would be her last season in Baton Rouge, perhaps that was a bit premature.

Reese hinted in a cryptic post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday morning that she could be considering a return to LSU for one more season.

Reese is currently projected as a top-10 WNBA draft pick by ESPN, but there would certainly be some risk involved in that decision. [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag], a second-round pick last season, was waived during preseason training camp and hasn’t found her way back on a roster since.

Whenever Reese ultimately decides to go pro, she will be one of the draft’s top prospects. But with Caitlin Clark almost guaranteed to go first overall this year, she could vie for a higher pick if she returned.

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LSU women’s basketball appears as a Jeopardy question

The Tigers got some recognition on the popular game show.

It’s always nice when your team makes news off the court and it is for a good reason. Recently, the LSU women’s basketball team appeared as an answer to a question on Jeopardy.

The question read as follows, “In the most-viewed Women’s College game ever, [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] and these Tigers beat Iowa for the NCAA Basketball crown.” As we all know, LSU Women’s basketball won their first national championship under head coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] with a 102-85 victory over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the finals.

Reese, [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag] and [autotag]LaDazhia Williams[/autotag] led the way for the Tigers in that game and helped LSU improve to a 34-2 overall record to end the magical 2022 season.

This season, LSU lost their first game to Colorado but has since gone on a 12-game winning streak with one more game to go before conference play starts on Jan. 4 against the Missouri Tigers.

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LSU’s Angel Reese named SEC Preseason Player of the Year, four Tigers earn All-SEC honors

The Tigers fill the preseason SEC accolades list.

The SEC coaches have announced the full list of individual preseason accolades, and star forward [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] has been named the Preseason SEC Player of the Year.

Reese was a unanimous First Team All-American last season, and she enters this season with high expectations. In addition to Preseason Player of the Year accolades, she was also named to the preseason First Team All-SEC.

She’s joined by transfer [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag], who was brought in to replace point guard [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag]. Van Lith was an All-ACC selection at Louisville last season.

Two more Tigers also appear on the Second Team All-SEC list in [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag]. Johnson had a breakout campaign as a freshman last season, earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Morrow, meanwhile, was a standout at DePaul before transferring to LSU this offseason.

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Kim Mulkey on how LSU women’s basketball finds success in the transfer portal

Kim Mulkey discussed how LSU continues to find success in the transfer portal.

[autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] took LSU from a middling SEC program to the top of the sport in just two years.

Much of that success can be owed to LSU’s recruitment of the transfer portal. The national title team was headlined by transfers like [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag].

At media days on Thursday, Mulkey was asked how LSU separates itself from the rest in that department.

“The portal’s changed everybody,” Mulkey said, “It’s something that you have to embrace, just like NIL’s changed everybody.”

Mulkey credits her staff, saying the assistants do most of the work in the portal.

“It’s not me. I’m maybe a deal closer…but at the end of the day if you don’t have a good staff that just really, really understands and works at recruiting, they’re not gonna knock your door down to come play for you,” Mulkey said.

LSU lays claim to the top-ranked transfer haul again this year. With the additions of [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag], the Tigers added the nation’s top two transfers.

“We’ve done a lot of good recruiting quickly,” Mulkey said.

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LSU women’s basketball announces full non-conference slate

The slate is headlined by a Final Four rematch against Virginia Tech.

The LSU Tigers’ women’s basketball team is looking to defend the first national title in program history with another loaded roster as coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] enters her third season in Baton Rouge.

While the Tigers lost some key contributors, headlined by WNBA draft pick [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag], they bring back [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] and [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] while adding a pair of superstar transfers in [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag].

Now, LSU knows what its full non-conference schedule will look like. In addition to a trip to the Cayman Islands in November, the slate is highlighted by a Final Four rematch against Virginia Tech in Baton Rouge.

Here’s a rundown of the full non-conference schedule. Times are listed in CT.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards signs bill to create special women’s basketball national championship license plates

In-state fans of the national champion Tigers women’s basketball team will now be able to show their pride on their license plates.

Fans of [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag], [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] and LSU’s national-title-winning basketball team will now be able to show their pride on their car’s license plate, at least in the state of Louisiana.

On Thursday, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a ceremonial bill at a private event in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to create specialty license plates commemorating the Tigers’ title win over the Iowa Hawkeyes last spring.

Mulkey became the first of two LSU coaches to win titles in their second seasons this past academic year, as baseball coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] captured the program’s seventh national title just a few months later.

However, this title represented the first for LSU’s women’s basketball program, though it was Mulkey’s fourth overall. After adding two of the top transfer players available and bringing back Reese and [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag], this team may enter the 2023-24 season as the favorite to repeat as champions.

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3 LSU players and Kim Mulkey make All-Louisiana Team

The honors continued to roll in for LSU’s national title-winning women’s basketball team.

[autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] and LSU ascended to the top of the sport last year and that star power is continuing to earn recognition.

The All-Louisiana Women’s Basketball Team was released on Tuesday and it featured three LSU players along with Mulkey.

This isn’t the only honor the Tigers received this offseason. LSU’s been all over the place from The White House to ESPN’s Emmy ceremony earlier this month.

Other first-teamers included UNO’s Sandra Cannady and Loyola’s Kennedy Hansberry.

This list is based on last year, so you won’t see LSU newcomers like [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] on the All-Louisiana Team just yet.