Lady Tigers battle in Bossier

BOSSIER CITY – Grambling State’s 46-point loss (100-54) to No. 5 LSU (11-0) on Sunday afternoon wasn’t unexpected. The matchup result was all but a given — the only question was how much LSU, and its loaded roster of national championshipworthy talent, would win by.

But the conversations the game produced, the stage it gave to in-state basketball, and the spotlight it shined on the state of women’s college basketball and the work to be done toward closing the gap between SEC giants to SWAC upand- comers made for an entertaining game in Bossier City on an otherwise rain-soaked Sunday.

The game itself was close for a brief moment when GSU cut LSU’s lead to 13-9 with 4:25 left in the first quarter, but then LSU hit the Aneesah Morrow and Flau’Jae Johnson button, with the superstar duo helping LSU go on a 16- 4 run to end the quarter with a 2913 lead. The second quarter was more of the same, with Morrow dominating the glass while Johnson did her thing on both ends. Mikaylah Williams made the most of her return to Bossier City with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists by the game’s end to round out the three-headed monster for Kim Mulkey’s contending squad.

By halftime, it was 54- 29, and the game was essentially over outside of time left on the clock to tick away. Morrow finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 steals, while Johnson had 20 points and a pair of blocks.

GSU was led by Halima Salat with 12 points, while Lydia Freeman had 10 points.

For Mulkey, a Louisiana Tech Hall of Famer with deep love for north Louisiana, Sunday’s game was a chance to give basketball fans from Bossier, Shreveport, Grambling, and all north Louisiana an opportunity to see LSU in-person while facing a local foe. She’s aware her Lady Tigers are the main women’s basketball attraction in the state, and she couldn’t pass up a chance to give Williams a proper homecoming while playing a school near and dear to her heart.

“First of all, I want to thank Grambling for playing us. I tried to get my alma mater, Louisiana Tech, to play us, and they wouldn’t,” Mulkey said postgame. “I came back to LSU, and I said I want to be a positive for the state of Louisiana. I spent 19 years of my life in Lincoln Parish. I spent 18 years of my life in Tangipahoa Parish. I want to help everybody. I think we’ve played just about every school in the state, with the exception of a few. I want to thank them for playing us. I think it also benefits them to be on a stage like this.”

Mulkey specifically talked about the importance of giving north Louisiana a chance to see LSU up close and to allow GSU fans to witness a game in an environment that is hard to duplicate.

“You let them realize you have an obligation to go out there and sign that autograph, to take that picture,” Mulkey said. “We’ve stayed in gyms for hours after ballgames because for some of them today in that audience, that’s the first time they’ve seen us play. What kind of impression did we leave? That’s why we do that.”

Mulkey was happy to be back in north Louisiana but reiterated like she’s done previously she has no intention of ever playing Louisiana Tech or Grambling State in Lincoln Parish due to her emotional attachment to the region.

But she’s not opposed to continuing to play in the hometowns of her players and hopes LSU can find opportunities in the future formore unique venues and matchups to give players additional homecomings.

“I try to go to play in the hometown area of the players on my team,” Mulkey said. “ Before Christmas, we’re going to Chicago for Morrow. It’s hard to do sometimes. Sometimes you can’t find somebody that will play you. We’re trying to get close to Savannah for Flau’Jae before she leaves. It is an event somewhat for those young ladies. What makes this probably a little bit different is I’m from Louisiana. I spent a great majority of my life in north Louisiana. Both my children were born in Ruston. I just had fond, fond memories here.”

Grambling State (27) has gotten used to playing Power Four opponents more than it would probably like in its non-conference slate, with LSU now the fourth such foe on the schedule this year and Louisville up next on Thursday.

GSU head coach Courtney Simmons is grateful her team got the chance to test themselves against a team of LSU’s caliber, but she also isn’t blind to why the matchup happened in the first place.

Sunday’s game was a reminder to herself and the Grambling fanbase that LSU is frankly playing a different sport than GSU right now.

“Nothing about this prepares you for SWAC play. It sounds good to say. But these are money games. We play these games to get the money so we can survive in our league. That’s it. That is all,” Simmons said.

“I would rather not ever play LSU again, but they paid us good money to come here and take a loss. Unfortunately, with the dynamics and the situation we’re in financially, we have to play these types of games just to be able to survive, to be able to make it to our conference games. Nobody is going to sit at a press conference and tell you, ‘These were moral victories.’ That’s not real life. As much as Kim Mulkey is a competitor, so am I.”

GSU’s non- conference schedule has been brutal as far as competition and travel over the past month, with the Lady Tigers in New Orleans on Nov. 16, in California against Cal four days later, then in Arizona three days after that. Following Arizona, GSU was in Oregon on Dec. 3, at Tulsa on Dec. 5, and then in Bossier on Sunday. Grambling has not had a home game since Nov. 4.

The afternoon wasn’t completely lost, as Simmons got a chance to talk with Mulkey about building programs and winning in north Louisiana for an extended chat.

Simmons had a strong start to that mission last season, winning 23 games — the most at GSU since the 1999- 00 season — making the WNIT, and knocking off Arizona State along the way in her first season as head coach. But it’s never a bad thing to hear from a proven winner like Mulkey.

“She told me to leave my mark in north Louisiana. She spent a lot of time in Lincoln Parish. And she’s proud of me,” Simmons said. “ She doesn’t have to pour into me. She doesn’t have to say anything to me. I do appreciate her taking the time to even say that to me. I think the biggest thing with us and women’s basketball is we’re all riding the emotions and waves of each other’s success. I think they’re going to do great things this year.

“They’re extremely talented and they’re being led in the right direction. For us, I want to be as successful as possible and hopefully one day Grambling State University is on that level as well because it’s been done before. We just gotta get there.”

LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey shakes hands with Grambling State head coach Courtney Simmons on Sunday in Bossier following LSU’s victory over GSU.

Mulkey played at Louisiana Tech from 1980 to 1984, winning two national championships as a player in 1981 and 1982 before she went on to win four as a head coach. Simmons, in year two at GSU, looks to make another run in the SWAC.

Photo by Kristen Young