SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2025

Kim Mulkey

Bob Starkey

Mikaylah Williams

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

LSU Lady Tigers

Postgame Press Conference

Texas 56, LSU 49

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by LSU. We'll begin with questions for Mikaylah Williams, then take questions for the coaches.

Q. No Flau'Jae, Morrow goes down, y'all are the big three. Why do you think you struggled so much offensively in the third quarter?

MIKAYLAH WILLIAMS: Well, if you think about the third quarter, I think our bench did a really good job. We got it to within four. I think for me, I just have to be more disciplined, knowing that my team needs me, knowing we don't have Nees and Flau'Jae. I'm taking this one to my chin because I think I could have been more smart and a better leader.

Q. What makes Texas' defense so tough to go up against?

MIKAYLAH WILLIAMS: I don't think it's as much of the defense. Obviously they're disciplined and play tough. It is the SEC. I think it's really just us not getting in our offense, not being disciplined, not going to what we had planned to do. I think everything was really on us. I think we beat ourselves tonight more than Texas beating us.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Mikaylah. We'll continue with questions for Coach Mulkey and Coach Starkey.

Q. Kim, I know you're focused on your own team. Wasn't too long ago you played Kentucky. Curious what your thoughts are on Kenny's first year at Kentucky.

KIM MULKEY: I think you probably know the answer. Heck of a turnaround, right? He made them really, really good really, really fast. But the portal does that. A lot of those players came with him from Virginia Tech. It didn't surprise me.

Good coach. Those players that came with him know the system. What a year he had and has an opportunity possibly to host the first and second round games. That's great for the SEC.

Q. Offensively you struggled. A lot is on Mikaylah, especially with foul trouble. Offensively couldn't get a rhythm going.

KIM MULKEY: Did Texas struggle? They only scored 56 points with all their weapons. So I thought it was a game of defense. I thought both teams are defensive-minded. Just a lot of aggressive play. Everything was hard.

In the third quarter, both teams, I think, scored 11 points. I'm not positive. I think in the third quarter, they only shot 20%. So where is Reid? Where is my boy Reid? That rag tag group you like to call rag tags, they competed with the No. 1 team in the country today without Flau'Jae, without Morrow and Mikaylah sitting a lot. I'll take that any day.

When you get those three back healthy, that's the No. 1 team in the country, right? We competed today.

Q. Do you feel like y'all had good looks tonight? If so, how did their defense impact those?

KIM MULKEY: Free-throw shooting, how many did we miss? Eight, something like that I think. At this level, you got to make your free throws.

I thought we didn't finish good on layups. I thought we just had open, bam, you got to get it off. You got to score it. Toughness rebounding. Size-wise, they have the big bulk in there, the older, experienced player. You just got to get tough. You got to bow your neck as we say in the country, you got to do what you got to do in there.

Yeah...

Q. Do you have an update on a Aneesah?

KIM MULKEY: Yeah. I just talked to the doctor. Was it maybe the last Texas game she got stepped on and they put her in a boot because it was bruised. She reaggravated. This is the medical term I got. She just reaggravated a mid foot sprain. She was wearing a boot last week. She'll wear a boot now. But she's good to go. It's my understanding, I'm not surprised, she's fighting 'em to get back in the game. They're like, Oh, no. We got bigger fish to fry. No, no, no.

But that's Nees.

Q. Do you have an idea if she'll be ready for the tournament?

KIM MULKEY: Oh, yeah, she can go. She can go for the tournament. She was ready to come back out there. The doctors, No, why would you go out there? Win or lose, we have playoffs hosting. Flau'Jae will be back. Everything is good. The NCAA sits there and, They don't have...

We have everybody.

Q. Leaving this tournament, you have said outright you're not a big fan of conference tournaments. Leaving with Nees in a boot, how do you tread that water getting ready for March Madness?

KIM MULKEY: I've won a bunch of conference tournaments. Everybody loves to win. Everybody loves to get a trophy. But at the end of the day, I've also been in those tournaments where I had injuries. Those kids couldn't go on and play in the most important tournament, the NCAA tournament.

I don't know why we play them, to be honest. I know sometimes you have a Cinderella on the men's side, but very rarely do you see a Cinderella on the women's side at a Power Five level.

You got to play. But I've never been a fan of conference tournaments. To me, it's too long. If you have conference tournaments, do we really need all 16 teams in the conference tournament? I don't know.

They don't care what we think, right? Administrators make all the decisions. We just give an opinion. They either like it or they don't.

Q. Mikaylah Williams had a big first half. Second half adjustments. What did you do to slow her down?

KIM MULKEY: I don't know that we made any adjustments other than, you know, we went to the 2-3. I thought the zone was very effective. I thought it kept us close and in the game. Maybe it was that. Maybe it was she got less looks against the zone.

That's the most zone I've played, I think, since I've been at LSU. But it was very good for what personnel we had available to play today.

Q. What did you see from Jada?

KIM MULKEY: Jada is a competitor. It hurts her when we lose. She was productive the minutes that she got. She was productive. Wouldn't surprise me as we go forward that she might not see the floor more because she cares. She cares. Winning matters to her.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.