LSU WBB remains perfect, Mulkey continues to build a contender

As the clock quickly dwindled away to triple zeros, senior guard Alexis Morris stood at half court pumping her arms into the air while dribbling the ball out. The crowd was on its feet. The Tigers had just won their 14th straight game, simultaneously improving to 2-0 in SEC play, with an 88-63 win over Vanderbilt on Sunday evening in the PMAC.

Any concern that this LSU team may take some time to adjust to the SEC has been quelled by wins of 24 and 25 points to start conference play. Even though Arkansas and Vanderbilt both presented early challenges, Kim Mulkey only needed a quarter before her adjustments set in and her talented roster put the opponent away.

It’s not just the margin, it’s the precision and versatility this team commands on the court. Morris now has 34 points and 18 assists in two games as the veteran guard, while Flau’Jae Johnson continues to step into her role and excel, with a 20-point outing on Sunday. Jasmine Carson is the knockdown 3-point shooter, and LaDahzia Williams is the janitor, doing the dirty work on the glass and defense to fatigue opposing bigs.

Then there’s the All-American Angel Reese, the leading rebounder in the country and with 21 and 20 points in her first two SEC games. Teams continue to double, dig, and harass her in the post, but it hardly affects her impact. Instead, the entire team finds more creases to attack. LSU shot 53.1 percent from the field with 48 points in the paint in the win over Vanderbilt.

The passing has some work to do, Mulkey continues to lament the turnovers, but there’s a certain creativity to this team that most teams in the country don’t have. LSU can play fast with its elite athleticism and unique ball handling ability of the guards plus Reese at 6-foot-3 and Johnson who is incredibly strong for a freshman. Then it can slow it down and dissect a defense like Vanderbilt’s 2-3 zone in the second half, shooting 55 percent from the field.

There was a lot made about the Tigers non-conference schedule, and Mulkey heard all of it. As the 50-point wins continued to stack, she admitted that she wasn’t sure about how good this team would be, and she needed those early games to build on. Well, her team is now two games into SEC play and has taken down two teams by 24+ and that includes a ranked Arkansas team.

Maybe the early blowouts were more than just a weak schedule. Maybe we were being lazy. The competition continues to improve but the results stay the same. This team is dangerous. Next up is Texas A&M at home and Kentucky on the road, both teams sitting at 0-2 in SEC play. We could very well continue to see more wins by 20+ in conference play as the depth in the SEC appears to be a step down from where it was last year.

Mulkey spent the entire offseason trying to temper expectations of LSU fans after the first year yielded shocking success, but as her team continues to deliver, there’s not much she can say that will lower expectations – and there shouldn’t be. This could be a top five team in the country when the AP Poll comes out on Monday.

Last year, it felt like there was a clear ceiling on how good LSU could be. This season, no one has any idea of how high the potential ceiling will be by the time the tournament comes around. 

Don’t look now, but Mulkey might just have another contender on her hands.