Kim Mulkey Shares Important Injury Updates Ahead of LSU’s Tournament Game

LSU’s Kim Mulkey met with the media ahead of the tournament’s first round matchup against the San Diego State Aztecs.

The game is scheduled to tip off at approximately 9:15 pm CT from LSU’s home arena, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The third seeded LSU is considered a huge favorite with most sports books predicting a Tigers victory by 26 or more points.

There have been some concerns though regarding the availability of key players on LSU’s roster. Both Aneesah Morrow and Flau’Jae Johnson suffered ankle and foot injuries late in the season that required a walking boot. However, head coach Kim Mulkey was adamant that her whole team will be ready to play come tip off.

“I tell them there's a difference between being hurt and being injured. If you're injured, you are physically unable to perform. So I would say Flau'Jae and Morrow were hurt, meaning they could have played.

But then you have to evaluate as a coach can they injure themselves if they continue to play hurt and then we not have them for the most important part of our season? Is their impact going to win or lose? Are they going to change where we were in the conference? No, we were going to finish third whether we won or lost. I'd already added up all the games.

So I think it was a smart decision to do what we did with Flau'Jae. She probably didn't like it, but she didn't fight me on it. You can't go wrong when you err on the side of being conservative and you have the ability to be conservative as a coach with injuries.

So both of them have had some days to rehab and start feeling better, and they've been practicing. So it doesn't seem to be limitations on how long they can play or anything like that. I haven't been told that,” said Mulkey.

Mulkey was asked if she’s concerned about any rustiness in Flau’Jae’s game in getting back on the court. She said, “I think she's actually looking pretty good. She's hitting shots, and she smiles when she does good. She wants extra reps. She doesn't want anybody subbing in for her. She's just ready to go.

But that's Flau'Jae. Flau'Jae just has a joy about her. I guess we'll see when the lights are turned on how long she can last conditioning-wise and how productive she can be when she's out there on the floor.”