Kim Mulkey challenges referees, team following early foul trouble on Angel Reese

LSU head women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey is in the midst of her fourth National Championship appearance as a head coach and her first with the Tigers. Her squad ended the first quarter with a 27-22 lead over Iowa, at after the first quarter, Mulkey spoke with ESPN’s Holly Rowe and gave an assessment of her team’s start.

“They did fine, they did fine,” Mulkey said. “I just didn’t like the way we started with three turnovers Holly in the first couple minutes of play, just take a deep breath. Got a freshman out there making those turnovers, but I didn’t take her out, you let her work her way through it and she hit a big three.”

The Tigers were also faced with some first quarter foul trouble with starters Angel Reese and Ladazhi Williams ending the quarter with two fouls apiece. Mulkey also spoke on how she plans on managing their foul trouble moving forward.

“I got two over there with fouls in the first quarter, we’re gon’ play aggressive. Now they’re either gonna call it aggressive on both ends or let them play, we can do either. But I thought Jasmine Carson came in and hit a big three, I think we’re battling hard Holly,” Mulkey said.

Carson hit a big three point jumper in the first quarter to extend the Tigers lead five points. But wasn’t done there, hitting three more three-pointers in the first six minutes of the second quarter. Iowa star Caitlin Clark also ended the first quarter strong with 14 points, four made three-pointers, and three assists, as the women’s national championship is already shaping out to be a back-and-forth classic.

Carson’s hot start

Jasmine Carson was LSU’s fifth-leading scorer for the entire season, averaging just 8.4 points per game for the Tigers. But in the first half of the national championship game she exploded for one of the most impressive shooting starts the NCAA Tournament has seen. She had been held scoreless in the Tiger’s previous three games, but more than made up for it in the first half on Sunday.

Carson broke her cold streak fast, making all seven of her shot attempts and hitting five of her five three-pointers, ending the first half with 21 points. She provided a crucial spark for the Tigers, helping extend their halftime lead 17 points with an amazing three-point shot at the buzzer to end the first half.