BATON ROUGE — As Kim Mulkey thumbed up and down the stat sheet before her on the table, she struggled to find many things she disliked about her team's performance against South Carolina.
LSU women's basketball won the rebound battle, especially on the offensive glass. It took care of the basketball, limited South Carolina's transition opportunities in the second half and it drew fouls affording itself chances at the free-throw line.
That's where things derailed.
Five missed free throws in the fourth quarter, including two in the waning seconds from star Flau'jae Johnson that would've given LSU the lead with 45 seconds to go, doomed the Tigers. South Carolina went on to beat LSU 79-72 in front of packed Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday, Feb. 14.
No. 6 LSU (23-4, 8-4 SEC) has now lost 18 straight games to the Gamecocks (25-2, 11-1).
LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey on Flau'jae Johnson's performance vs South Carolina
"What a blessing it is to have her. Now, you will focus on those last two free throws. We missed nine, there's your difference in the ballgame. We scored the same number of field goals, we outrebounded them by nine, we were 14 for 23 from the foul line, that's where the game was lost. Make your free throws, you win."
Kim Mulkey on where LSU women's basketball's missed free throws came from
"I'm not real sure. If I knew that, I'd be in psychology. I have no idea. We got to the free-throw line. So reward yourself."
Kim Mulkey on what she liked about her team's performance vs South Carolina
"I liked everything we did except I didn't like the way we guarded Tessa (Johnson). We didn't do what we were told to do for three days. And you can't do anything about free throws. If you look at the stat sheet, you can't be too critical of many things. We didn't turn it over much, we outrebounded them, we got to the foul line more than them. Two for 12 from the 3 and you still had a chance to win the game; 44 seconds left you can take the lead if you can make one defensive stop. We'd be sitting here celebrating. This game is tough. When you do get that many rebounds, you think you're going to win but that's not the only thing. When I look at that stat sheet and how it's so good, 'Why'd you lose, coach?' Well, look at the free throws."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Kim Mulkey dissects LSU women's basketball's loss to South Carolina