Kim Mulkey on LSU women's basketball's defensive woes: 'Can't get stops when they matter'
When asked to spotlight any singular area within her team's defense that she found the most troubling, Kim Mulkey laughed then fired a question right back.
"Where did all the scoring come from?" she quizzed reporters.
Her LSU women's basketball team, minutes before, had just gone down for a second straight game, this time against a Mississippi State team that got soaring performances from its guards — two of which are reserves — in the Bulldogs' 77-73 victory in a sold out Humphrey Coliseum Monday night.
Mississippi State senior point guard Jerkaila Jordan put up a game-high 24 points, while backups Darrione Rogers recorded 19 and Mjralce Sheppard pitched in 12 — as both led the bench's 35-point effort in the victory.
LSU (18-4, 5-3) led at halftime. 40-35, but the lapses on defense piled up as the game got tighter. Mississippi State shot 65% from the field in the second half, most of the makes coming from the perimeter and perimeter players.
South Carolina, which trailed LSU at halftime Thursday night, outshot the Tigers in the second half to the tune of 24 points in the fourth quarter alone to rally to fend off LSU.
"We can't seem to defensive get stops with this team when they matter. That's how we lost the South Carolina game," Mulkey said. "You have to make stops at this level. And we don't seem to be doing it."
Issues on defense for the Tigers have been prevalent all season and the reoccurring problems go away for a game or two — then return in a worse way.
LSU doesn't have the most speed or athleticism at guard and Mulkey said help defense has to be paramount. But for the team, it hasn't been to this point and it caught up with them against South Carolina and in Starkville, Mississippi Monday.
"We don't have the fleet-of-foot guards out there that can make up for things when they get beat off the dribble. So we got to do a better job of helping each other out," Mulkey said.
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And to the longtime, three-time NCAA championship-winning coach, that's where the biggest X-factor is for LSU: chemistry.
"I'm not one to make excuses. But sometimes I need to step back and go, 'that's a freshman out there, that's a sophomore out there, that's a new player out there.' I think everybody gets caught up into their rankings or get caught up in how great they are. At the end of the day, experience matters. When you don't have experience on the floor, you lack leadership. And if you lack leadership, you tend to lack a little bit of chemistry when things get tough," Mulkey said.
"I think it's more of that than anything on the defensive end. Everybody gets focused on their man or they ball watch. It's a little bit of everything. I don't think it's one thing."
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 dissects LSU women's basketball's defensive problems
