Women’s Hoops Eliminated in SEC Quarterfinals by Kentucky

LSU’s run in the SEC Tournament came to an abrupt end as the Tigers are one-and-done thanks to a 78-63 loss to Kentucky in the quarterfinal round.

“They just came out on fire,”Kim Mulkey said. “I watched them play the previous games and they have all their parts back. They have everybody healthy, you know, and they’ve been on a run. They’ve won seven or eight in a row. And they can score the ball. And I think when you have Treasure Hunt and people like that shooting threes and making them, that helps Rhyne Howard not have to do it all.

Kentucky jumped on LSU early going up 25-13 at the end of the first quarter and held a 20-point lead at the end of the first half. LSU would get to within nine points in the third quarter but wouldn’t be able to get any closer than that.

Just give them credit,” Mulkey said of Kentucky who has won eight games in a row. “Give them credit. They’re on a roll right now.”

Part of the reason LSU lost Friday is Kentucky has Rhyne Howard and LSU doesn’t. Howard, who could go first overall in the upcoming WNBA Draft, scored 32 points and hit six threes.

But LSU’s got some great players of their own like Khayla Pointer who went for 27 points, 7 boards, and 7 assists. Ryann Payne had a good night with 13 points on 6-9 shooting, and Faustine Aifuwa and Autumn Newby each had eight rebounds, though Newby’s night was cut short due to some kind of back injury. Her status for the NCAA Tournament is to be determined.

LSU now turns its attention to the NCAA Tournament. Selection Monday is March 13 and first and second round games will be played from the 18th through the 21st. LSU will surely be one of the top-16 overall seeds in the Tournament, and ff that is the case their reward will be getting to host up to two games inside the PMAC.

College basketball’s postseason is a beautiful but terrible thing. Being a single elimination tournament one bad night can ruin a great season. Well, LSU had themselves a bad night and now the second-best team in the SEC is out of the conference tournament after one game. Here’s hoping this will be the last game Kim Mulkey’s Tigers lose for the rest of the season.