Kim Mulkey makes her feelings clear on the "tremendous challenge" facing Dawn Staley's South Carolina in the Tigers' next game

For a team looking to reclaim the national championship since winning it in 2023, the LSU Tigers have dominated the 2024-2025 season. On Sunday, Jan. 19, coach Kim Mulkey and her players cruised past the Florida Gators, 80-63, for their 20th overall win of the campaign and fifth straight in the SEC.

But, a mighty challenge now presents itself to Mulkey and company. The No. 5-ranked squad in the nation is now set to face the defending national champions South Carolina Gamecocks in a hostile Colonial Life Arena on Thursday, Jan. 23. The two programs have combined to win the last three national titles, with the current second-ranked team winning the 2022 and 2024 iterations.

During the post-game presser of their Gators victory, Mulkey discussed her thoughts on what could be their biggest hurdle yet in the campaign where they aim to reach the pinnacle of college women's basketball once again.

"I can't even think about South Carolina, I got to think about snow and ice when I get home. So, we're going to enjoy this victory today. Any victory on the road in our league is an accomplishment. But, we know what we face next, a tremendous challenge to play the defending champions and do it at their place," she shared. (0:30)

Mulkey will be facing a long-time rival as well in Gamecocks tactician Dawn Staley, where the latter currently leads their head-to-head record, 5-2, after winning the past four matchups. Perhaps, the highly anticipated game between the powerhouse programs with legendary coaches could be a preview of which teams could be facing in this year's SEC final.

Even with all of these stipulations ahead of the hotly contested matchup, it seems as though Mulkey is choosing to prepare it for day-by-day. If the LSU Tigers pull off the gigantic triumph though, they'll stay undefeated in conference play with a 6-0 record and overall on the campaign at 21-0.

Kim Mulkey says her LSU Tigers could still improve on defense

Although LSU has won 20 consecutive games against a mix of ranked and unranked oppostion, Kim Mulkey, who has achieved that amount of victories again in the past 25 years, shared that her current crop of Tigers still has ways to go in terms of getting stops on the defensive end.

"Our defense (could still improve). We've got to continue to get better defensively. We got to learn to trust each other. Sometimes, we leave each other on an island. You've got your guy, I've got him, you got her, everybody guard the ball. I think we did it in spurts today," she said. (2:00)

Perhaps, this is a significant facet of their gameplan that Mulkey and her coaching staff could look into heading into the South Carolina battle. The 62-year-old will hope to finally snap a current four-game losing skid to Staley and the Gamecocks.