Impressed Kim Mulkey wants to grab South Carolina talent on transfer portal, says Dawn Staley won’t let her do it – Sportskeeda

Kim Mulkey had nothing but praise after Dawn Staley handed her her first loss of the 2024-25 season. South Carolina won the contest 66-56 on Friday. LSU and the Gamecocks opened the game with fireworks, combining for 43 points in the first quarter.

As the Tigers battled back, Staley’s side gradually built up the points gap, never allowing the visitors to take the lead again. Mulkey praised South Carolina’s rotation, depth and talent after the game, joking that he would ask Staley for some of the players he doesn’t use as much.

“I’ll call Dawn and tell her to send me some of the ones she doesn’t play. However, I don’t think he will,” she said.

Kim Mulkey’s bench yielded just two points and five rebounds on 1-of-9 shooting. Dawn Staley recorded 31 points, 10 rebounds, five steals, four blocks and three assists coming off the bench (11-of-31 shooting).

In LSU’s game against then-No. 16 Tennessee, which was the Tigers’ highest-rated game before the Gamecocks, the bench produced 26 points, nine rebounds and four steals on 52 percent shooting.

Kim Mulkey plans to move on after losing to Dawn Staley

Despite the loss, Kim Mulkey believes the game showed her team can handle the best team in the nation. With this, she plans to encourage her players to improve and instill in them the belief that the biggest games of the season are yet to come.

“You talk about what each of them could do better, get them to respond, go into the film room for a short period of time and then get back to work,” she said. “You go to Baton Rouge and go into that film room for a little bit, then you start on a very good A&M team that just beat Kentucky at home. [5:28]

“It’s not the biggest game of the year. You might think it is, but it isn’t. The biggest game of the year is when you get to the playoffs and you have to keep grinding.”

Kim Mulkey’s Lady Tigers (20-1, 5-1 SEC) will host Texas A&M (10-8, 3-3 conference) on Sunday before facing No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners for their fourth ranked game of the season.