“You can’t have that mentality”: Kim Mulkey dissects LSU star’s shortcomings in aftermath of unsatisfactory win

It was a close call for Kim Mulkey's LSU Tigers on Monday as they defeated Washington 68-67 in the opening round of the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship. The Huskies maintained a lead for most of the game, but Kailyn Gilbert's layup with 1.6 seconds on the clock saved the day for LSU.

Guard Aneesah Morrow finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Flau'jae Johnson also had 19 points with four rebounds and four steals. Among the players who went scoreless was Shayeann Day-Wilson, but the guard had seven assists and one steal.

Evaluating her performance, coach Kim Mulkey said:

"Shayeann's getting the first run at it. Shayeann had seven assists to no turnovers, but she's playing too conservative. I know you want to distribute the ball. That's part of your job as a quarterback out there, but you're passing up jumpers at the foul line, you're not penetrating, you're not making stuff happen.

"I guess you'd say I'm still learning a little bit about her every day. She has the mentality that, 'I'm the last scorer out there.' But at the end of the day, you can't have that mentality. You got to have a mentality that, 'I'll score if you need me to coach.'" (From 06:50)

Other big contributions came from Sa'Myah Smith, who finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Kim Mulkey explains where her team went wrong against Washington

Kim Mulkey's LSU failed to dominate the game from the first whistle, and Washington took an easy lead from the first quarter. The Tigers only caught up with the Huskies toward the end of the fourth quarter, as they kept taking bad shots that cost them a lot.

During the press conference postgame, coach Kim Mulkey explained her team's struggles.

"When people play you a zone and you get wide-open looks and you can't nail a shot, that rim gets a little bit smaller and a little bit smaller," Mulkey said. "So what do you do? You got to be able to dribble, penetrate. You got to have some athleticism about you to push the ball in the open floor, you got to screen the zone.

"I think we just got in the rut of one pass, one shot, and we got second half. We fought really hard, made some changes in the lineup, and won the game on a last-second shot, basically."

After a short rest, the Tigers will next face the winner of the NC State vs. Southern tip-off on Wednesday for the final championship game.