Although it was Kim Mulkey's team that won last season's national championship, LSU's outspoken coach clearly still has an ax to grind with the team they beat — specifically, the team's best player, Caitlin Clark.
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After LSU's impressive 87-70 win against Texas A&M last week, Mulkey joined star players Angel Reese and Hailey Van Lith for a postgame press conference. When Mulkey was asked about whether she's happy with her team's continuity at this point in the season, Mulkey didn't mince words.
Kim Mulkey: “We don’t have any players shooting 40 times a game like you see around the country. That’s not us.”#LSU
— Cory Diaz (@ByCoryDiaz) January 12, 2024
"I think if you look at the box scores at every game, it's pretty much what you see," Mulkey said. "Same number of shots ... nobody is taking 40 shots a game like you see across the country. We're not that kind of team."
While Mulkey didn't reference Clark by name, it's clear that she's referring to the University of Iowa's rather simple offensive strategy: let Caitlin Clark cook.
Mulkey is free to critique how Iowa gets its buckets — but it's not as if Iowa's game plan doesn't work. Not only is Clark — who is actually averaging 22 shots per contest, a far cry from 40 — leading the country with 30.9 points scored per game, but Iowa is currently ranked third in the country in team points per game, with 90.6. While LSU's 92 team points per game is ranked right above that, both offensive strategies are conducive to success.
In addition, Clark — who seems to be making more history with every game played — shares the wealth as well. Her 7.9 assists per game are second best in the country, and the stats show that Clark only scores about one-third of Iowa's points. So why is Mulkey hating?
Clark couldn't care less regardless. After Iowa's 84-57 win over Indiana on Saturday, Clark was asked about the hate she receives alongside her stardom. She replied, "I think I just worry about being in this moment, enjoying this moment. ... The people that I really care about, the people that I really love, they always have my back, even when I take off my basketball shoes, take off my uniform and I'm done playing one day. Those are the people that are really going to matter to me."
A classy response from college basketball's biggest star.
That being said, we'd love to see a rematch of last year's championship game between LSU and Iowa during the NCAA Tournament this season — if only to see whether Mulkey or Clark can get the last laugh.
