Kim Mulkey shares injury update on Last-Tear Poa ahead of NCAA Tournament

LSU guard Last-Tear Poa suffered a scary injury during the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, leading to her leaving the game against Ole Miss on a stretcher.

Poa suffered a concussion and neck injury after hitting her head on the court, before being taken to a local hospital.

Tigers coach Kim Mulkey provided an update on Last-Tear Poa on Sunday, after the women’s NCAA Tournament bracket was announced.

Mulkey shared that Poa is making progress, but she is unsure when Poa will be able to return to the court.

“Well, you saw her out there [at the watch party] tonight. She’s better every day,” Mulkey said. “I think she told me she got on the treadmill, maybe, today. Gonna try to do some individual workouts, so that’s a great sign.”

Last-Tear Poa has appeared in 32 games for LSU this season, making 10 starts. She is averaging 5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.

Her family has been in town with her as of late, but they will head out soon as she continues her recovery.

“Her parents are still here. They will leave [Monday] night,” Mulkey said. “This week we had three days off and been practicing since Thursday. Had today off, and then we will get in the film room tomorrow and go to work.”

Rebecca Lobo, Andraya Carter explain why Albany 2 Region could be toughest

As Kim Mulkey alluded to, Last-Tear Poa was doing well enough to attend the watch party on Sunday as LSU learned its postseason bracket.

The Tigers are the No. 3 seed in a loaded Albany 2 Region that includes Iowa and Caitlin Clark, as well as No. 2 seed UCLA.

ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo and Andraya Carter considered it the toughest of the four quadrants.

“I mean, the strength of the top four teams in this bracket is incredible,” Lobo said. “Especially if you’re looking at it from Iowa’s point of view. UCLA’s your 2-seed, certainly a national championship contender. LSU as your 3, but the reigning national champion – the team that beat you in the national championship game.

“And then K-State, again, if all seeds hold. K-State and Iowa have already played twice this year. They split, in terms of Iowa lost at home and Iowa beat them on a neutral court. … Holy cow, this region’s tough.”

As Bracketologist Charlie Creme pointed out, LSU was also a No. 3 seed last tournament. The Tigers managed to go on a run and win the whole thing in Kim Mulkey’s second season as head coach.

But Carter put the level of competition into perspective by referencing her Final Four picks before the bracket reveal. She thought UCLA and LSU were both capable of punching tickets to Cleveland. The fact that they’re in the same region, she said, showed it won’t be easy for any team to come out of that group of teams.

“Listen, I have UCLA and LSU in my Final Four,” Carter said. “So when you talk about these two teams being in the same region, this is definitely going to be a tough battle. Watching those two teams potentially go against each other with the size inside and the dynamic guards on the outside is going to be really impressive.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report