Kim Mulkey gives concerning Flau'jae Johnson injury update with a silver lining

Kim Mulkey and her LSU Tigers advanced to the Elite Eight round of the women’s March Madness tournament, but it took a lot for them to get there. They needed a 20-8 run in the last 6:22 of the game to get past the NC State Wolfpack in their Sweet 16 matchup Friday night. However, the win came at a cost as they lost star Flau'jae Johnson in the fourth quarter due to injury.

Johnson collided with NC State combo guard Zoe Brooks at the 5:04 mark of the fourth quarter with both players diving for a loose floor. She was down for a couple of minutes until she got up on her own.

With under two minutes remaining, Mulkey was ready to sub her back into the contest before the medical team told her otherwise, and Johnson never returned to the game. ESPN reported that her right eye was swelling before the end of the matchup.

Mulkey talked about the situation in her postgame press conference:

“It was really hard for us not to have Flau’Jae on that floor, but she was seeing double. She got hit in the eye area and they wouldn’t let her go back in.” (14:30)

One silver lining in this incident was Johnson’s attitude even while on the sideline.

“She continued in the timeouts, to point things out on the coaching board, and to say things to her teammates,” Mulkey said. “That’s a sign of a leader.”

Flau'jae Johnson struggled the whole game, only scoring three points on 1/8 shooting to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Aneesah Morrow stepped up and had the game of her life, putting up 30 points, 19 rebounds, three steals and two blocks to lead the Tigers’ to victory. Sa’Myah Smith added 21 points and 11 rebounds while Mikaylah Williams added another 19 points for LSU.

Zoe Brooks paced the Wolfpack with 21 points and five assists, while Zamareya Jones and Aziaha James were the only other two players in double figures, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Flau'jae Johnson’s status for Elite Eight unknown

Flau'jae Johnson wasn’t available for comment after Friday's Sweet 16 game as she left the arena right away. LSU coach Kim Mulkey provided some sort of update on Johnson’s status, saying:

“I didn’t see it. I don’t know if she got poked in the eye. I don’t know. I just know I was getting ready to put her back in the game and I turned around and they said they won’t let her go back in the game because she’s seeing double like double vision a little bit.”

With not much to go on, we can say that Flau'jae Johnson’s status for the Tigers' Elite Eight matchup against the UCLA Bruins is unknown. With head collisions and double visions being part of the situation, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a concussion might be on the cards. A concussion call by the medical team will most likely put her status for the Regional Final on Sunday in doubt.