With the game knotted at 87 apiece and her team having possession with 21 seconds remaining, coach Kim Mulkey had to come up with something with LSU women’s basketball having a golden chance to beat Tennessee in Knoxville.
For the multi-time national championship winning coach, there wasn’t too much thought put into what the game’s final possession should look like.
Get the ball in Kailyn Gilbert’s hands and let her go to work.
“We wanted Kailyn Gilbert to have that last shot,” Mulkey said following LSU’s heart-stopping 89-87 win over the Lady Vols on Thursday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
LSU OUTLASTS LADY VOLS LSU women’s basketball weathers storm to outlast Tennessee Lady Vols for thrilling SEC win
KAILYN GILBERT Kailyn Gilbert out to prove doubters wrong. Kim Mulkey, LSU women’s basketball benefiting
Gilbert got herself open on the inbound for LSU (18-0, 3-0 SEC). The junior guard took a few dribbles between the circles at the top of the key, peering up at the clock the whole time. With about three seconds to go, Gilbert made her move, her quick step creating space for her to get by her initial defender.
Much like she had done for the Tigers before, making the game-winning layup as time expired against Washington earlier this season, Gilbert sliced her way into the lane and among a barrage of defenders, she put up a circus shot that found its way through the rim to lift LSU to the victory.
“She’s made several of those shots through the course of our games. She made one like that against Washington to win it for us,” Mulkey said. “Shot clock there at the end and we made sure that she didn’t go in there too early.”
“You can’t say those are lucky shots,” Mulkey told the LSU radio broadcast following the thrilling win. “She makes those acrobatic shots.”
Gilbert’s impact on the game at Tennessee came long before the game winner. Mulkey went with a smaller lineup, working mostly with four guards on the floor and Gilbert was the benefactor of that strategy as she played 30 minutes.
The junior scored six points in her first five minutes of the game en route to scoring 22 on 9-of-17 shooting. LSU stars Aneesah Morrow had 23 points and 21 rebounds and Flau’jae Johnson had 20.
“(Gilbert) can just make plays and she’s hard to guard because she can get to her spots and elevate and hit shots,” Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell said. “You try to be in your gaps, try to put more than one person on her so it’s not just one-on-one because she can do her thing one-on-one. But she had a heck of a night.”
Gilbert has been a vital complementary piece to the Tigers’ star players. Through 18 games, she’s the team’s fourth-leading scorer, posting 13.1 points per game.
MULKEY OFFERS TO HELP CALDWELL Kim Mulkey jokes she’d help deliver Kim Caldwell’s baby if LSU-Tennessee game gets exciting
FLAU’jAE, A FACE OF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ‘It’s authentic’: A face of women’s basketball, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson ‘radiates starpower’
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Kim Mulkey on Kailyn Gilbert’s game winner for LSU over Tennessee
