“How many Final Fours did you play in?”: LSU HC Kim Mulkey takes cheeky jab at reporter following Elite Eight loss

LSU coach Kim Mulkey delivered a cheeky jab to a sports reporter of the school she's coaching minutes after the Lady Tigers' 72-65 loss to the UCLA Bruins on Sunday. KLSU Sports reporter Jaden Smith was prefacing his question to Mulkey when she interrupted and made a playful comment.

Questioning Mulkey, Smith said this was the second straight year LSU had been eliminated in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. However, Mulkey cut the reporter off in the middle of his question.

"Terrible or is that good?" Mulkey asked. "How many Final Fours did you play in? So it's probably pretty good."

Smith then went directly to the question, asking the four-time champion coach how she would sum up the Lady Tigers' journey to the Elite Eight and its difference from last year.

Mulkey replied that it was the team composition with former role players taking the bigger tasks this year and the five transfers who experienced competing in the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight for the first time this season.

"The amount of experience that they got will be valuable," Mulkey said (14:24). "I learned to celebrate every team I coached. Some have overachieved through the years. Some have gone just as far as I thought they could go and then some have underachieved. And that's the fun part of coaching."

It was the eighth time Kim Mulkey's team had its run stopped in the Elite Eight. She had six Elite Eight finishes with Baylor and two with LSU.

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Kim Mulkey says she was blessed to coach three All-Americans at the same time at LSU

LSU coach Kim Mulkey hailed the trio of Aneesah Morrow, Mikaylah Williams and Flau'jae Johnson for helping the Lady Tigers win 31 of 37 games this season and make the Elite Eight. The Associated Press cited Morrow (second team), Johnson (third team) and Williams (honorable mention) on its All-American Team, and the 62-year-old coach is proud to have them on her squad.

"It was a blessing. I never take them for granted," Mulkey said (15:19). "I just really value that they chose to come to LSU and play in our program and through good times, wins, and bad times, losses, watch them own their team and own their play and get better and get better."

Morrow averaged 18.7 points, 13.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game this season, while Johnson tallied 18.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.7 spg. Williams averaged 17.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.4 apg and 1.1 spg and played all 37 games for LSU.

Against UCLA, Morrow had 15 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal, while Johnson dropped a team-high 28 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Williams came up with 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block.