The LSU Women’s Basketball team is on fire once again, having won their last four games, including a 73-67 win at home over 21st-ranked Georgia team. They look to extend their win streak to five games as they make the trip to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs (15-9, 6-6 SEC).
Mississippi State found their groove as well with the postseason getting closer and closer. They’ve have won four of their last six games, and they’ve still succeeded even through adversity. The Bulldogs lost their star player, Rickea Jackson, to the transfer portal in late January. Jackson averaged 20.3 points per game along with 6.8 rebounds per game. At one point, she was the leading scorer in the SEC. Despite not having her on their roster going forward, Mississippi State still continued to win games.
“What a tremendous job that coach has done,” Coach Mulkey said in a press conference leading up to their matchup with Mississippi State, “He’s an interim coach as well. They lose their best player, who was at the time the leading scorer in the SEC, Jackson. And then they go onto win four out five after she leaves.”
The matchup presents another obstacle in that the game is at Mississippi State, which is a relatively difficult place to play in. “Going to Starkville is going to be extremely difficult, because they do support women’s basketball,” Coach Mulkey said, “Dick Schaffer did a good job there in building the fanbase. I know he’s not there anymore but they’ve grown to appreciate women’s basketball there.”
But the Tigers couldn’t be more ready for another test. Alexis Morris has been playing her best basketball all year, coming off back-to-back, 20-point games. She has been a one-two punch with Khayla Pointer all year, but they are now shifting their dynamic duo ways to a leadership role.
“Alexis is maturing,” Coach Mulkey said, “Khayla has always made good suggestions to me when it’s just us one-on-one in the course of a game, but Alexis, particularly one that comes to mind was in the A&M game about ‘Coach, so and so needs a lift, she’s about to cry,’ things like that. With the regular season also coming to a close, having two important leaders that the team can look to when times get tough is extremely valuable. “You’re seeing her [Morris] blend in with Khayla Pointer, and Khayla blending in with her which is pretty darn good,” Coach Mulkey said.
Jailin Cherry is also coming some impactful performances, and Coach Mulkey notices a confidence boost within her. “Unbelieveable, beautiful jump shot,” Coach Mulkey said of Cherry, “athleticism, can leap out of the gym for her size, but her confidence probably comes from playing time, her confidence comes from our team having success, and she’s having success.”
Coach Mulkey constantly reminds her players that they are having a fantastic season as a whole. “We just have had this type of season. I don’t think we’ve gotten too high, nor have we gotten too low,” Coach Mulkey said, “just look at the season, and look at the losses, we’ve stayed right here. And that’s a lot of coaching them up, that’s a lot of motivating, that’s a lot of senior leadership, there’s so many reasons why you’ve just stayed consistent.”
Mulkey reminds the Tigers of the season they are having so much because she knows it will boost their confidence, and that will lead them to wins. “Confidence comes from success,” Coach Mulkey said, “when your team is successful, and you do some good things and you’re successful, that confidence grows.”
The Tigers look to grow their confidence as a team, and earn another win against an underrated Mississippi State team headed closer and closer to the postseason. Their matchup against the Bulldogs tips off Thursday at 6 p.m. C.T. at the Humphrey Coliseum at Mississippi State.

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Chynna McClinton

LSU women’s basketball fifth year senior guard Alexis Morris (45) pulls up before shooting a jump shot Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, during LSU’s 73-67 win against Georgia in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on North Stadium Drive in Baton Rouge, La.