BATON ROUGE, La. — Kim Mulkey lashed out again at an unnamed Washington Post reporter over what she expects will be a "hatchet job" on her and her program following the team's second round NCAA tournament win over Middle Tennessee Sunday.
LSU got off to a slow start before steamrolling the Blue Raiders 51-20 in the second half of an 83-56 win.
Asked if her team might have been distracted by the possibility of a negative story and her fiery press conference Saturday, Mulkey replied curtly.
"We're not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we're trying to do," she said. "Absolutely not. My kids didn't even know I said that yesterday. That team isn't involved in this. They were in shock when they saw all of that on the Internet."
While her team may not know what she said Saturday, at least one, Flau'jae Johnson, tweeted an image to apparently show support for the 4-time national championship coach.
Angel Reese had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers. Flau'jae Johnson added 21 points.
"I wasn't going home. I put in too much work," said Johnson.
Lost amid LSU coach Kim Mulkey's diatribe against an expected Washington Post story on Saturday was the coach's warning about the danger MIddle Tennessee posed. Mulkey pointed out the Blue Raiders hadn't lost since January 10, including a big rally against favored Louisville in the first round that set up Sunday's matchup.
The Blue Raiders (31-5) held a 41-32 lead with 8:22 to go in the third quarter when LSU turned things around, forcing turnovers, blocking shots, hitting from inside and out, making a 10-0 run to take the lead and then widening it with continued spirited play. LSU scored 27 points in the quarter to take a 59-49 lead into the final frame.
LSU will next face the winner of the UCLA-Creighton matchup, which is slated for Monday night.
The Tigers are still on a path for a possible rematch with Caitlin Clark and Iowa, which would be in the Elite Eight.
