"We're just pushing and shoving": Kim Mulkey seems worried about mounting foul calls against LSU, says "we gotta fix that"

LSU coach Kim Mulkey addressed the media following her team's 64-51 win over Texas A&M (10-9, 3-4 SEC) on Sunday. Mulkey was bothered by the number of fouls called on her team as LSU had key players Aneesah Morrow and Flau'jae Johnson dealing with foul trouble in the first half.

During the postgame presser, a reporter asked the coach about the team's offensive struggles and if there was anything they could do to become more efficient.

"We just keep playing, just keep playing," Mulkey said (12:48). "You can do some quick hitters out of a timeout and things like that ... You got coaches that are scouting and taking away a lot of the stuff you do."

Mulkey then pivoted to discussing the foul troubles plaguing her team.

"It’s part of basketball, and then the playoffs will come around, and then it'll be, 'Oh, it looks easier in the playoffs.' Well, yeah, because we're grinding it out in the SEC.

"We're just pushing and shoving, and I got to go look and see if we foul that much. We gotta fix that. That's a lot of free throws two games in a row."

The No. 5 Tigers (21-1, 6-1 SEC) had a combined 39 fouls called on them between Sunday's game against Texas A&M and their previous matchup against South Carolina.

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Kim Mulkey explains the changes she made for the Texas A&M game following Gamecocks defeat

The South Carolina game on Friday was a tough one for LSU. The defending champions (19-1, 7-0 SEC) ended the Tigers' undefeated run with a 66-56 win.

While coach Kim Mulkey had lots of reasons why her team came up short, she was determined to make the necessary adjustments for the team's next game against the Aggies.

After the win over Joni Taylor's team, Mulkey explained some of the changes she implemented for the home game.

"If you noticed, I started subbing a lot early today," Mulkey said (10:00 onwards). "That wasn't just because of foul trouble. I was subbing early because I thought in the South Carolina game we were short on our shots.

"I'm thinking, 'Okay, let's rest them if we can do more in the first and second quarter and see if that helps, and see if we can get more production from our bench while they're fresh.'

In the South Carolina game, LSU only had a two-point contribution from its bench compared to 31 points from the Gamecocks reserves. Against the Aggies, LSU's bench stepped up and scored 14 points, including seven from freshman Jada Richard.