Freshmen at LSU? Kim Mulkey’s rotation experimentation may not be over.
Last-Tear Poa was left open by Arkansas. After cutting into the allotted area, the LSU guard received a pass, pulled in a defender for assistance, and sent a dish behind her back to Jersey Wolfenbarger, who made a wide-open layup.
The No. 6 Tigers (16-0) jumped out to a 9-0 lead over the Razorbacks on Thursday thanks to that basket, and they went on to win 98-64 to secure a solid start to the Southeastern Conference part of their schedule.
However, Poa and Wolfenbarger’s performance helped it get out to a good start in its first SEC game. For the sixth consecutive game, coach Kim Mulkey started those two veterans against Arkansas. In the 12 minutes of play they shared with mainstays Aneesah Morrow, Flau’jae Johnson, and Mikaylah Williams, LSU outscored the Razorbacks by 19 points.
Will the starting lineup remain the same? Mulkey stated on Thursday she was unsure of which team will start LSU’s upcoming game against Auburn (9-5), which is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (SEC Network).
“I could start a different young group out there against Auburn, depending on what we want to do defensively,” Mulkey stated. Does continuity work well? That kind of thing would be fantastic, but really, I could start a variety of lineups for my squad, depending on who we play and what we need.
I simply don’t get sucked into that five, then. You are aware of the three primary ones.
LSU has started five different lineups this season.
No team has been more effective than Shayeann Day-Wilson, Johnson, Williams, Morrow, and Sa’Myah Smith, who have started seven games. In the 81 minutes they have played together this season, those five have outscored LSU’s opponents by an average of 8.4 points, according to box-score lineup statistics. However, they haven’t played more than a minute together since the Tigers defeated Stanford on December 5.
Day-Wilson missed the following five games after twitching her ankle toward the end of that one. Her absence provided Mulkey an opportunity to try out the lineup she began Thursday. Based on data from LSU’s last six games, that group, which includes Poa and Wolfenbarger in addition to the three stars, outscored the Tigers’ opponents by a total of 26 points in the last 37 minutes played (6.5 points per game).
Starting was important when I was a player, but as a coach, you don’t start your top five players. I constantly tell them that you want to be in the rotation of eight or nine guys.
Poa and Wolfenbarger have each seen the court for seven more minutes per game since Mulkey started them for the first time against UL on December 15. In addition, Day-Wilson is playing seven fewer minutes than she did prior to her ankle injury in the two games she has played since her injury comeback, while Smith is now playing five fewer minutes per night as a result of the alteration.
Poa made the most of her extra effort on Thursday, putting on one of her greatest performances in her three years at LSU. The senior guard’s three 3-pointers were a career high, while her six assists established a season record. Poa has missed all ten of her beyond-the-arc attempts this season prior to the Tigers’ matchup with Arkansas.
It remains to be seen, however, if she will be LSU’s primary ballhandler or if more opponents will dare her to create plays in space.
Mulkey remarked, “I anticipated that they would double down on Morrow and the post play and not guard Poa, and they did that.” However, Poa nailed shots tonight and regained some of her confidence. She performed well, in my opinion.
During its nonconference schedule, LSU struggled with early offensive lulls.
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