Updated: LSU WBB star ruled out until NCAA Tournament

*This story has been updated on Sunday March 2

Ahead of LSU’s final game of the regular season, LSU star Flau’Jae Johnson was ruled out on the SEC injury report on Saturday night. Then just before the game on Sunday evening against Ole Miss, Kim Mulkey said on LSU Radio that Johnson was going to be out through the SEC Tournament as well as she deals with “shin inflamation.”

Johnson was questionable against Texas on Feb. 16, but ended up playing in the game and scoring 16 points in 37 minutes. After the game, Kim Mulkey said she was “fine” and since then, Johnson has played with a calf sleeve, but looked largely unbothered. Against Texas, Georgia, and Kentucky, she played 103 minutes and scored 50 points, but against Alabama on Thursday, she played 38 minutes, struggling offensively, scoring just six points — her lowest of the season. Now, with the conference tournament starting for LSU on Friday, Johnson is ruled out for the final regular season game and the potential SEC Tournament run.

The Tigers enter the game 27-3 on the season and 12-3 in SEC play, with the 3-seed in the SEC Tournament already clinched. Despite the loss, LSU remained as a two-seed in ESPN’s Bracketology on Friday and are in line to hold that spot with a win on Sunday.

Kim Mulkey quotes after LSU’s loss to Alabama

What was the difference in the game?

“Let’s start at the foul line. You can’t shoot 14 for 23 from the foul line. They missed four. Then let’s go to rebounding. They out rebounded us. That’s where I’d start and we knew they were outstanding shooters. and we held them pretty good from three. They only hit seven, but it was backing you in, reverse dribbling,and doing all that. I went zone one time and four did it right and one did it wrong and they burned us on the three right where she left chasing somebody. You can’t do those things on the road against good teams. Alabama is a good team. They have older players and um they deserve to win.” 

What was Alabama’s defense doing to bother LSU?

“I don’t know that it was anything more than they were icing us on the ball screens of the wing. We didn’t handle it well. Just trying to make passes and they were just hard nosed, tough defense tonight.”

LSU’s early struggles defensively…

“I have to look at the film. I think some of it is what we couldn’t do offensively. If you look at some of our kids that are primary players and what they shot from the field, it’s unusual. Flau’Jae 2 for 12. We needed to match their intensity and their grit, and we did in spurts. We did it when we were behind trying to catch up, but sometimes you just gotta give credit to the opponent. I think I wanna do that tonight.”

Does this game prepare LSU for the postseason more?

“Well, we’ve been doing this all year if you look at our games.
We had these kinds of games. We’ve just been fortunate to come out on the winning side of it. This isn’t the first one that we’ve had go down to the wire.
It’s just one of many. We’ll continue to do what we’ve done all year, just move on. I don’t want to say flush it,
I want you to remember it and correct it, but we didn’t get production offensively like we needed to and like we normally do from more than one or two players.”