Nothing worked for LSU women's basketball
in front of a record-setting crowd inside Neville Arena Sunday.
Trailing by 2 with 32 seconds remaining
, after her team struggled all game, Kim Mulkey decided on an unconventional route.
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For No. 7 LSU, the game and its performance was already off-kilter. The final sequence, where Tigers star junior forward Angel Reese tried to take Auburn guard JaMya Mingo-Young off the dribble to the rim but had it stolen told the contest's story.
Mingo-Young was fouled by Reese, who performed best for LSU at Auburn with 24 points and 11 rebounds, and hit a pair of free throws on the other end to ice the upset, 67-
62.
"I wasn't getting anything out of every other thing we tried for 40 minutes," Mulkey said after the game. "She's a returning All-American, and I thought let's just do a one-four flat. Confidence, trust. I let Angel bring the ball up the floor. I thought we were struggling trying to make a pass on the wing, the wing down to her.
"What the heck? Just do a one-four flat and let's see."
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As was the case for most of the game, Auburn's defensive intensity won with the outcome on the line. The homestanding Tigers kept Mulkey's bunch off balance, holding them to a season-low in points at 62. LSU whiffed on 12 layups, going 18-for-30, and while Auburn made its free throws down the stretch, despite earning 10 more foul shots than Auburn, LSU went 16-for-25.
LSU had a plus-16 rebound margin coming into Sunday and Auburn challenged them on the glass, finishing two behind in total but more importantly limited LSU on the offensive boards with 14 and just 13 second-chance points.
Mulkey said the call on the final sequence was derived from how the game unfolded and what she saw from her team at that point with just four points in the paint in the fourth quarter.
LSU UPSET BY AUBURN No. 7 LSU women's basketball upset by Auburn on the road, 16-game win streak snapped
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ANGEL REESE JOINS SEIMONE AUGUSTUS LSU women's basketball star Angel Reese joins Seimone Augustus, scoring 10-plus in 50 straight games
"Talked about that with the team afterwards. I should never have to do things like that. I should be able to do what we normally do but during the course of trying to win a game sometimes you have to think outside of the box," Mulkey said. "We didn't get two defensive rebounds down on the other end.
"It's a one possession game. See if we can get a rebound, then go down and try to tie or take the lead. We gave up two offensive boards."
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser:
Kim Mulkey on late play with Angel Reese in LSU's loss at Auburn
