SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 4, 2023

Kim Mulkey

Alexis Morris

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

LSU Lady Tigers

Postgame Press Conference

Tennessee 69, LSU 67

THE MODERATOR: We will start off with questions for Alexis Morris first.

Q. Alexis, the third quarter you guys struggled, only shot 18.8% from the floor. What was not going your way after having the first half that y'all had?

ALEXIS MORRIS: We didn't execute. They zoned, shook us up for a little bit, but we didn't execute and we needed to execute and come together and, you know, be coachable.

Q. Obviously it's always disappointing to lose, but can you put it into perspective for the whole season? 28-2, you have a lot to look forward to. Where do you feel you guys are as a team?

ALEXIS MORRIS: We got some work to do. We got a lot of growing to do. We got a lot of young ones on our team, experience, toughness. We got a week to prepare for playoffs, and that's pretty much all we're focused on right now, is our next season.

Q. Speaking on that, a lot of young players. You are a seasoned player yourself. What are you going to bring to this team in this next week to help bring your younger players to the run you're going to have later?

ALEXIS MORRIS: They probably won't like me for the next week. That's because I have the experience, I am proven, and I feel like I am one of the players who can make my team a better team as a whole.

We needed more from certain players tonight and certain people, and we'll get it out of them this week coming up.

Q. Alexis, with you being one of the leaders, how quickly do you get the team to start to focus on the next tournament play?

ALEXIS MORRIS: Immediately. As soon as I walked in the locker room some of my teammates were saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Nothing to apologize for. We lost. Now it's time to learn and move forward. It's no time to worry about it, playoffs in a week.

We can't worry about the next SEC Tournament, especially for me. I don't have time to dwell. I want to make a long run in the playoffs. Like I said, I was my senior night to be in Dallas. This wasn't my senior night, period.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Alexis. Questions for Coach.

Q. Like Alexis said --

COACH MULKEY: Can y'all identify where you're from? It would help me.

Q. I'm from The Next.

COACH MULKEY: Two of you?

Q. Yes. I was wondering about adjustments in terms of the zone defense that you saw in the second half?

COACH MULKEY: It was obvious they couldn't guard us in man. We came out the gate smoking. So we go against a zone. It's not like we haven't seen zone this year. It was almost like we were just tired.

No one flashed. No one moved. No one screened the zone. We had no dribble penetration to make two take you. We had no ball reversal, nothing. We just relied on the shot clock winding down, set a pick, jack a shot up.

Was that fatigue? I don't know. But we attack zones every day in practice and it affected us. Their press did not affect us; their zone affected us. We will continue as we prepare for the playoffs to attack zones.

Q. Coach Mulkey, you guys had a few mental breakdowns tonight which was a lot like the game against Georgia at home in the fourth quarter. Where do you think that's coming from?

COACH MULKEY: Well, the mental breakdowns, I don't know if I would call them mental breakdowns. We did not do things on either end of the floor in executing. I don't know if that was fatigue. I was as disappointed in our defense as I was our inability to do what I wanted them to do against the zone. I just thought everything they did was in the paint.

So I'm in a timeout going, do I go zone? Make 'em shoot it outside? Give a different -- and then I'm thinking, surely we're going to contest and they are going miss, and then they would miss and get their offensive board.

So everything was toughness on the defensive end, and it starts with post play. I don't think anybody wanted any part of Rickea Jackson tonight. We would hit a screen and holler, switch. She is a great player. I just thought Jordan Horston is a great player. She got some paints and then she would get some rebounds, but we knew that about those two kids.

It was toughness, and then we had a shot to win it. Came out of the timeout, drew up the play for Alexis Morris, didn't set screens. Just stood there. That's called no execution. So you just teach.

You get back in the film room before the playoffs and go, explain to me from the time we left that huddle to the time we got on that floor what I wanted and why you didn't do it. That's teaching. So we'll do that.

Q. Kim, what did you see on that drive by Angel there at the end?

COACH MULKEY: I thought we were shooting two free throws, so I was heading back to wherever to get my thoughts together, and then they said, Coach, she called an offensive foul. I just thought she was shooting two free throws.

Q. Kim, Angel was not on the Wooden Award watchlist.

COACH MULKEY: I think it has to do -- you need to ask them, but I think it has to do with credentials or criteria that are involved other than on the floor stuff. Maybe her GPA, stuff like that.

Q. And your fans and readers would have the question that is she in good academic standing?

COACH MULKEY: Absolutely! She is in good academic standing, period. It's just criteria on these awards. A lot of them have community service stuff. Some of them have GPA. Yeah, yeah, she's academically fine.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.