LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey: We're not supposed to beat Tennessee, South Carolina
BATON ROUGE – With high-impact transfer Angel Reese coming in along with filling other critical roles with experience like Jasmine Carson on the wing and LaDazhia Williams in the post, Kim Mulkey never expected No. 4 LSU women's basketball to start the season on a program record 20-0 streak.
Mulkey knew the team had talent. But for the Tigers (20-0, 8-0), who did open the season ranked No. 13 and were picked in the preseason to finish third in the Southeastern Conference behind No. 1 South Carolina and Tennessee, the goal was to develop, improve and maybe win a couple of games they weren't expected to along the way.
"We have that opportunity Monday," Mulkey said. "We're not supposed to beat Tennessee. They were picked No. 2 in this league in the preseason. They have more depth than we do. It's going to be quite a challenge."
"We got to go to South Carolina. Nobody is capable of beating them. They're that good. You just hope that you can stay close."
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Both of those teams, starting with the Lady Vols (16-6, 8-0) Monday (6 p.m., ESPN2) inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, form plenty of matchup problems for LSU.
With the emergence of Rickea Jackson coming off the bench for Kellie Harper and the Lady Vols, along with standout combo player Jordan Horston being healthy, Mulkey said they have all the necessary weapons to be "very good" and have seen enough that they won't be phased playing No. 3 LSU on the road.
"I don't know how they are not a top-25 team. They've played everybody – name somebody that they haven't played," Mulkey said. "They are a matchup nightmare. They've played enough games against the best that we have in the game right now coming in here in front of the crowd we expect to have will not be a big deal to them.
"We are going to have to rebound. They're outstanding rebounding the ball. In eight league games, they have 124 offensive boards. We have maybe 135. It's going to be a good basketball game."
LSU-Lady Vols expected to break PMAC attendance record
LSU officials told The Daily Advertiser on Thursday that they anticipate Tennessee's visit to the PMAC to be the season's first home sellout.
Early Thursday, the athletic department suspended online ticket sales for the game, leaving a small number available for walk-up sales.
The arena seats 13,215 but the attendance record hovers around 13,900 for an LSU men's basketball game. LSU women's basketball is expected to surpass that Monday.
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 'not supposed to beat' Lady Vols
