LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey is firing back at the media over coverage of the skirmish that took place between South Carolina and LSU during the Southeastern Conference tournament championship on Sunday, calling it “a little bit sexist.”
During an appearance on her weekly radio show on Tuesday, Mulkey took issue with the portrayal of the fight, which resulted in six players getting ejected late in the fourth quarter of the South Carolina victory.
Flau’jae Johnson #4 and Mikaylah Williams #12 celebrate after Aalyah Del Rosario #23 of the LSU Lady Tigers is fouled by the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second quarter during the championship game of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 10, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
“When you have two tough teams, that play so hard, that are so good and compete. Those kind of things happen,” Mulkey said, via nola.com.
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“It’s so out of control with the media right now. You don’t get this much attention when men do it. So why do you keep writing it about the women? It really comes across, and I’ll just say it, it comes across as a little bit sexist. And you’re tearing down two great teams. You’re tearing down a woman who coaches one of those teams. Stop it, it’s not newsworthy after the first introduction. I’ve seen every men’s game that’s had something like that, and it’s no big deal.”
South Carolina forward Kamilla Cardoso was one of the six players ejected from Sunday’s game when she — at 6-foot-7 — shoved 5-foot-10 Flau’jae Johnson to the floor.
South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso vies for the ball with LSU forward Angel Reese during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Southeastern Conference women’s tournament final Sunday, March 10, 2024, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
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Mulkey faced harsh criticism for remarks that Cardoso should have pushed Tigers forward Angel Reese instead of Johnson because of the height discrepancy.
“If you’re 6-8, don’t push somebody that little. That was uncalled for in my opinion. Let those two girls who were jawing, let them go at it.”
Mulkey doubled down on her reaction in a separate radio appearance on Tuesday.
“I am what I am,” Mulkey said, via NOLA.com. “I have no ill intentions. I have no agenda. I speak from my heart. I speak from my life experiences. And people like it or don’t like it. I have nothing, nothing whatsoever in my heart to harm anybody, but I fight like hell. That’s who I am.”
LSU coach Kim Mulkey during the first quarter of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship game at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. Sunday, March 10, 2024. (Ken Ruinard/staff/USA TODAY NETWORK)
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South Carolina coach Dawn Staley apologized for the incident after Sunday’s game.
“I just don’t want the people who are tuning in to women’s basketball to see that and think that is our game, because it isn’t,” she said. “Our game is a really beautiful thing.”
Cardoso will face a one-game suspension, per NCAA rules, and miss the Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament opener next week. Johnson’s brother is also facing charges after he was arrested for jumping over the scorer’s table to get involved in the fight.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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