Kim Mulkey on LSU fans potentially storming court vs. South Carolina: ‘You’re the defending national champions, act like you’ve been there’

LSU hasn’t topped South Carolina in women’s basketball in a long time. But Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey doesn’t want a potentially seismic win to have fans acting up.

Speaking on her coaches radio show earlier in the week, Mulkey said she wants the crowd cranked up, but to stay in the stands in the event LSU wins. It’d only be fitting for the defending national champions, she said.

“And we’re not gonna go run on the floor if we beat them,” Mulkey said. “You’re the defending national champions, act like you’ve been there. And I want everybody to scream and holler, but I don’t want people running out on the floor like we just won another national championship.”

LSU hasn’t beaten South Carolina in 12 years as the Gamecocks have been the class of the SEC for most of the past decade. Prior to LSU winning the national championship in 2023, it was South Carolina hoisting the trophy in 2022.

And Mulkey, who has beaten South Carolina in her head coaching career prior to leading LSU, knows that Thursday’s matchup is a big game, but not the biggest game. Keeping that perspective will be critical going into the game, Mulkey said.

“I shared that with the team, I asked them in the locker room, ‘Raise your hand if you’ve ever beaten South Carolina in your career,'” Mulkey said. “None of them raised their hand except for me and Bob Starkey. I said, ‘Beating South Carolina is not that big a deal to me. I beat them twice in one year to win a national championship. But for this program and for you and for the LSU fanbase, you need to understand it is a big deal because you want to do something that hasn’t been done in a long, long while.’ But, don’t allow it to be bigger than it really is.”

And in the event that LSU does get the monkey of its back against the Gamecocks on Thursday, Mulkey urged fans to treat like business as usual if only because there are bigger games down the road — perhaps against the Gamecocks.

“This is a very exciting game Thursday, but keep perspective,” Mulkey said. “There are bigger games down the road for both South Carolina and LSU. Don’t make it so big that you’re devastated if your team doesn’t win. But if your team wins, celebrate it, and then move on the next day.”