Kim Mulkey: LSU women's basketball 'didn't have dog in them' in upsetting loss to Colorado

LAS VEGAS – Season openers are always telling for coaches.

And Kim Mulkey admitted that what she thought she knew about her LSU women's basketball team heading into the Hall of Fame Classic against No. 20 Colorado hasn't actually permanently materialized.

Coming off the program's first NCAA championship and being preseason No. 1, the longtime coach thought the pedigree was established. The Buffalos proved that to not be the case, it they drummed the Tigers, 92-78, inside T-Mobile Arena on Monday night.

"I'm disappointed in some individual players who I thought would be tougher, have a little fight and some leadership about them," said Mulkey, who lost just her third season opener in her coaching career.

Colorado coach J.R. Payne mentioned after the win that she wanted to world to know how good her team was. Before the game, the world already knew Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith and Flau'jae Johnson, the stars for the Tigers (0-1).

And Mulkey believed she had clear leaders on the team. Those thoughts certainly start with Reese, who was the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA title game last season, as well as Johnson, a returning starter. Van Lith has played tons of basketball before at Louisville and has led teammates, but it was her first game with a new roster of teammates and new approach.

Mulkey didn't point to any particular player, but the letdown was a bit startling, specifically with effort, which she said was not there from her team.

"I knew what we faced. We had our hands full," Mulkey said. "We have two returning players that started last year, so we're putting in some new kids. Some of them have experience, just not in this system. I thought Colorado did exactly what I thought they would do.

"I thought they were hungry. (For us) the effort was not even there."

Watching Colorado pour it in all game long against the Tigers – 10 made 3's, shooting 53% from the field – had plenty to do with how well it game-planned and executed. But it was evident LSU was missing that hunger.

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Freshman MiKaylah Williams, who earned her first start in her first collegiate game and led the Tigers is scoring with 17 points, might've said it best after LSU's loss.

"We just need to play together," Williams said. "We have a lot of work to do, as you can see. Playing together, we need leaders on the team, and effort is the biggest thing of us. So effort, leadership and discipline and we'll be OK."

The defeat doesn't bury LSU. Potentially, it be the blessing it needed.

But Mulkey now knows that the hill to a repeat is steeper in a fuller view now, and there's no indicator on when things will turn for the Tigers.

"You live with poor shooting, you live with just a tough night. What I don't live with is just guts, fight and physical play. You got that dog in you. I just didn't think we had that tonight. You needed more to have that fight within," Mulkey said.

"This is not going to devastate us. The sky is not falling. I know a little bit about this game, I knew what we faced. But what I didn't know about my teams was those things I described to you. Those things are fixable, I just don't know how long it's going to take us to fix it."

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Kim Mulkey: LSU women's basketball lacked toughness in Colorado loss