Tag: Hailey Van Lith

LSU women’s basketball team gets 2023 national title rings

LSU unveiled the 2023 women’s basketball national title rings on Thursday night.

LSU women’s basketball played its home opener on Thursday night. And while the Tigers got their first win of the year on the court, the night was also about recognizing last year’s national title team.

LSU received its championship rings. The ring features “102 brilliant white stones to recognize LSU’s NCAA championship game record of 102 points.”

On the sides of the ring, you’ll find the final score of the title game, 102-85, along with an image of the national title trophy. The other side displays LSU’s 34-2 record along with Kim Mulkey’s “Piece it 2gether” motto.

Inside the ring, the scores from all six of LSU’s tournament wins are printed.

Along with the title rings, the national championship banner was raised into the PMAC rafters. And as Mulkey’s voice points out in the post below, it’s the first time in program history that LSU has gotten to hang such a banner.

On the floor, LSU rolled to a 112-55 victory over Queens College.

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LSU women’s basketball got a wake-up call in its opening loss to Colorado

Kim Mulkey’s group got a wake-up call with its loss to Colorado on Monday night.

The hype train for LSU women’s basketball grew all off-season long. The Tigers were preseason No. 1 and consensus national title favorites.

The additions of [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag], [autotag]Annesah Morrow[/autotag] and [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] along with the return of [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] led this group to be dubbed as a “dream team.”

So when LSU opened the year against No. 20 Colorado on Monday night, the Tigers were supposed to pick back up right where they left off last year, rolling through opponents on the way to a national title.

Long story short, that’s not what happened. A Colorado team that returned its top five scorers from last year came out firing. LSU got outplayed from the first quarter on to the tune of a 14-point loss. At one point, Colorado led by as much as 22.

After the game, [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] said she can live with shots not falling. There’s always going to be nights like that, but she wanted to see more fight from her team. Lack of effort is something you don’t live with, Mulkey said.

When the next poll drops on Monday, LSU won’t be in that No. 1 spot. This is a wake-up call for an LSU team that was the darling of the sport all summer.

It’s a stark contrast from last year, when LSU raced out to a 23-0 start. The nonconference slate tests Mulkey’s group in ways last year’s didn’t. It began with Colorado and later this month, LSU will face Virginia and Virginia Tech.

These games aren’t meaningless, either. When the committee sits down to seed the tournament, they’re going to look at what a team did in the non-con.

The good news: LSU has time to figure it out. The Tigers don’t face a top 100 opponent until that Virginia game.

This was a team that didn’t hit its stride until March last year, and maybe, that’s all that matters. But there’s too much talent here for what happened on Monday night.

It’s not fair to say all that hype got to their head. If these players were derailed by hype and attention, it would have happened already.

But Mulkey wants to see more from her stars. After the loss, Mulkey went out of her way to acknowledge the efforts of [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Sa’Myah Smith[/autotag], but said she needed more than just them.

That wasn’t a direct shot at anyone, but it was a call to arms for the leaders of this team to live up to expectations.

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Hailey Van Lith said ‘everyone gets free smoke’ from LSU before losing to Colorado

These Hailey Van Lith comments aged like spoiled milk.

The defending champion LSU Tigers entered their 2023 season with sky-high expectations of a repeat. With a superstar like Angel Reese already in tow, the addition of Hailey Van Lith to the squad had a lot of people calling the Tigers a “superteam” of sorts. They were supposed to run roughshod on the entire college basketball slate.

About that.

On Monday night, the defending champs lost a 92-78 laugher to No. 20 Colorado. It got so bad for LSU that a seemingly disgruntled Kim Mulkey wore her emotions on her sleeve courtside. Ah, but that’s not all. Before the game even began, Van Lith talked about what matchups she was looking forward to other than the one against Colorado. She proceeded to say, “Everyone [on LSU’s schedule] gets free smoke,” as if it’s a foregone conclusion the Tigers would win everything.

Needless to say, with the defeat to the Buffaloes, these comments aged like spoiled milk.

To be fair to Van Lith, it’s not as if there are any world-beaters on LSU’s upcoming schedule. With a docket featuring “powerhouses” like Mississippi Valley State and Texas Southern, Van Lith’s confidence was probably justified in that sense. But to look ahead and then take a stunning loss to another good team like Colorado is almost poetic.

LSU women’s basketball drops opener to Colorado: 3 takeaways

LSU began the year on a disappointing note in Las Vegas.

LSU didn’t get the start it was hoping for on Monday night.

Beginning its national title defense in Las Vegas, the Tigers fell flat, losing 92-78 to No. 20 Colorado.

LSU took an 18-16 lead out of the first, but from that point on, it was all Colorado. The Buffs outscored LSU 49-35 over the second and third quarters. The Tigers couldn’t get shots to fall while Colorado was efficient in all phases.

There aren’t many ways to put it. This is a disappointment for an LSU team that sits No. 1 in the AP Top 25. After hype built all offseason, the Tigers got a wakeup call on Monday night.

Here are three takeaways.

Instant Analysis: No. 1 LSU women’s basketball stunned by No. 20 Colorado in season opener

LSU entered the 2023-24 as the consensus favorite to repeat as national champions, but the preseason No. 1 Tigers were humbled by Colorado.

LSU entered the 2023-24 as the consensus favorite to repeat as national champions, but the preseason No. 1 Tigers were humbled by No. 20 Colorado.

The Buffaloes jumped on coach Kim Mulkey’s team early, taking a 38-32 lead to the locker room after LSU led following the first quarter. They only pulled away in the second half and ultimately won 92-78, shocking the defending champions in Las Vegas.

It wasn’t a banner night offensively for the Tigers, which shot just 43.9% from the field. True freshman highly touted recruit [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] was the star, leading the team with 17 points. [autotag]Sa’Myah Smith[/autotag] (16 points), [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] (15), and [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] (14) scored in double figures with Reese recording a 12-rebound double-double.

It was a quiet night for [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] (six points) and [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag] (3).

LSU won the turnover battle 21-19 and the rebounding battle 39-37, but it allowed Colorado to shoot north of 50% and gave up big games to Frida Formann (27 points) and Aaronette Vonleh (24).

Whether it was the expectations getting the better of this team or the expectations themselves being misplaced, it’s clear LSU has a lot to work on if it wants to get back to the mountaintop this spring.

That starts with the home opener on Thursday night against Charlotte.

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LSU vs. Colorado: Preview and prediction for Tigers women’s basketball season opener in Las Vegas

Here’s a preview and prediction as LSU begins its national title defense against No. 20 Colorado on Monday night.

LSU women’s basketball looks to begin its national title defense on Monday night, kicking the year off with a top-25 showdown against Colorado in Las Vegas.

The game will tip at 6:30 p.m. CT and be nationally televised on TNT.

There are several big stories to monitor on Monday night, most notably the anticipated debut of Louisville transfer [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag]. The arrival of Van Lith along with a few top-rated freshmen, has led to even bigger expectations in Kim Mulkey’s third year.

We’ve gotten a preview of what this team might look like with two exhibitions, but this is its first real test. Here’s what to watch for when [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] and the Tigers take the floor tonight.

How to watch No. 1 LSU women’s basketball open the 2023-24 season against Colorado in Las Vegas on Monday

LSU heads to Las Vegas to begin its national title defense against Colorado on Monday night.

It’s time for the 2023-24 LSU women’s basketball team to begin its national title defense in Year 3 under coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag], and the squad is heading to Sin City to kick things off.

It will be a ranked matchup to begin the season at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as the No. 1 Tigers face No. 20 Colorado. The Buffaloes are ranked in the preseason top 25 for the first time since 2013 after making a Sweet 16 run last season in which they were ultimately bounced by LSU’s eventual national title opponent in Iowa.

This will be our first glance at LSU newcomers like [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag], [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] and [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag] in a game that counts. Here’s everything you need to know to watch it.

LSU women’s basketball trio named to preseason Wade Trophy watch list

Angel Reese, Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow were all named to the prestigious award’s watch list.

LSU women’s basketball players [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag], [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and [autotag]Aneesah Morrow[/autotag] were named to the WBCA preseason watch list for the Wade Trophy, which is given annually to the top player in women’s college basketball.

The Tigers are the only team with three players on the watch list.

Reese returns to LSU this year after leading the team to a national title last season and earning First Team All-American honors while setting an NCAA record for double-doubles.

Van Lith was the nation’s top transfer coming from Louisville, where she was an All-ACC selection last year. Morrow sat at No. 2 on the transfer rankings coming from DePaul, where she was previously the National Freshman of the Year.

After winning its two exhibitions in dominant fashion, LSU begins the regular season on Monday night against Colorado in Las Vegas.

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Loyola no match for LSU women’s basketball as Tigers dominate in second exhibition win

The Tigers won their second and final exhibition game 121-36 over Loyola.

LSU looked the part of a preseason No. 1 team in its two exhibitions.

The Tigers completed their preseason slate on Wednesday night in a scrimmage against NAIA opponent Loyola (New Orleans), and it was an even more dominant win than the first scrimmage.

LSU won 121-36, starting the game on a 15-0 run and ultimately taking a 63-16 lead to the locker room.

After debuting a starting lineup of all newcomers in the first exhibition, we saw what will likely be the starting five in the regular season: [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag], [autotag]Flau’Jae Johnson[/autotag], Mikaylah Williams, Aneesah Morrow and Angel Reese.

Williams, a highly touted true freshman, led the team in scoring with 20 points followed by another true freshman in [autotag]Aalyah Del Rosario[/autotag] with 16. They were joined in double figures scoring by Johnson (15 points), Van Lith (13), [autotag]Last-Tear Poa[/autotag] (12) Morrow (11) and Reese (10).

Reese also added nine rebounds, coming one short of a double-double, as did Rosario. Morrow did manage a double-double as she had 12 rebounds.

LSU shot 60.5% as a team while allowing the Wolf Pack to shoot just 20.9 percent. Turnovers, of which LSU had 19, were a bit of a problem. However, it did force 20 of its own.

The Tigers divvied the minutes up quite a bit in this game as coach [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] looks to finalize the rotation. We’ll see the result of that when the Tigers begin their season Monday night against Colorado in Las Vegas.

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What Kim Mulkey said after LSU women’s basketball’s exhibition win over East Texas Baptist

Here’s what Kim Mulkey said after LSU’s exhibition win over East Texas Baptist.

LSU women’s basketball took another step towards a new year last night with a 99-26 exhibition win over East Texas Baptist.

The Tigers did what you’d expect, dismantling an ETBU squad that can’t match LSU’s talent level.

For several highly-touted newcomers, it was the first time they got to showcase their skills in an LSU uniform. Among those were Louisville transfer [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag] and top-ranked freshman [autotag]Mikaylah Williams[/autotag].

The [autotag]Sa’Myah Smith[/autotag] hype continued to build with the forward posting a double-double. [autotag]Flau’jae Johnson[/autotag] led LSU with 18 points as she was one of six Tigers to score in the double-digits.

LSU will be back in action with one final exhibition on Nov. 1. Until then, here’s what [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] had to say after LSU’s win.