"Not doing us any favors": LSU HC Kim Mulkey takes subtle shot at NCAA over scheduling problems
Kim Mulkey's LSU had a great performance in the first game of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The No. 3 Tigers defeated the No. 14 San Diego State Aztecs 103-48 to advance to the second round. It was one of the most lopsided games of the tournament.
However, the Tigers will have a quick turnaround as they are scheduled to play the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles at 6 p.m. ET on Monday. In Mulkey's postgame press conference on Saturday night, she called out the NCAA for how it scheduled LSU's games to start the tournament.
"When everybody gets to play and contribute, everybody goes home feeling good," Mulkey said (10:00). "The crowd was good. Is it almost midnight? Midnight, Cinderella, wasn't it? Pumpkin, what was that? Then they tell me we play at five o'clock Monday. They not doing us any favors. They don't think we work down here?"
In the clip, Mulkey refers to her team starting at 5 p.m. That is because she is referring to the start in CT. The game starts at 6 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. CT.
Kim Mulkey must get her team ready for a quick turnaround against Florida State
Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers must be ready for one of the quickest turnarounds from the first to the second round of the tournament. After playing the last game of the day on Saturday, the Tigers moved up to one of the middle matchups of the day on Monday.
Fortunately for the Tigers, their dominant performance against San Diego State meant the starters did not need to play as much as normal. Mulkey was able to give playing time to bench players late in the game and give the starters some rest. As a result, the otherwise quick turnaround time might not be as big of an issue for LSU.
Kim Mulkey and LSU's opponent in the second round, Florida State, started its first-round game roughly two hours earlier than LSU. The Seminoles also dominated their opponent, defeating No. 11 George Mason 94-59.
Despite the quick turnaround for the Tigers, they are still the favorites to come out on top on Monday. They had a more dominant performance in the first round and look poised to make a deep playoff run. However, Florida State is not a team to be taken lightly and should be much more competitive than LSU experienced in the first round.