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The LSU women’s basketball team was celebrated on Thursday night back at campus after making a run to the Elite Eight.
The Tigers fell to No. 1 Iowa in a rematch of last year’s championship, which they won.
This season, though, certainly had its slings and arrows, causing head coach Kim Mulkey to be “emotional” during her speech.
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Head coach Kim Mulkey of the LSU Lady Tigers looks on during the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the Elite Eight round of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at MVP Arena in Albany, New York, on April 1. (Scott Taetsch/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
“I’m emotional for a lot of reasons, so you bear with me,” she asked of the crowd in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“Look around this building. Look around this building. Wow — that’s all I can tell you. This is why I came home. I came home to do good here, not bad,” she said, according to NOLA.com.
The beginning of the season was rocky, with star forward Angel Reese absent for four games with what was speculated to be a pseudo-suspension.
Then, right around the time of the March Madness tournament, Mulkey made note of a “hit piece” that was set to be published about her. The piece also called the LSU players “villains” and “dirty debutantes,” the latter of which was edited out later on.
The team also caught flak for not being on the court during the national anthem prior to their Elite Eight game, something that apparently had not been uncommon throughout the season.
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey reacts during the Sweet Sixteen game against UCLA during the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at MVP Arena in Albany, N.Y., on March 30. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
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“The distractions that came from winning that national championship, I don’t think I’ve ever seen in my entire life. The things that have been printed, the lies that have been told — for what reason?” Mulkey said, though she didn’t specify what those lies were.
“Most of you don’t know who I am. In my life, that’s where I go, and that’s who I stand for. Most of you feel me right now. Most of you are standing here going, ‘My God, she’s been attacked. She comes home, she gets attacked. What is she gonna say?’ I’m gonna say I came back to this state to make a difference, and I promise you I will.”
Kim Mulkey of the LSU Tigers looks on during the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at MVP Arena in Albany, New York, on April 1. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Mulkey joined LSU in 2021 after spending 21 years at Baylor, where she won three national titles.
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