Kim Mulkey was seething heading into LSU’s Sweet Sixteen match against UCLA yesterday, and the focus of her anger had nothing to do with the NCAA tournament itself. Two articles caught her ire, because she felt the timing of their release and the content they carried were malicious in nature. She marked one by the Washington Post as a “hit piece,” and the other by the Los Angeles Times as sexist and racist. Never mind that her success, and the way she went about carving it, automatically invited attention and, yes, criticism.
As things turned out, Mulkey managed to steer the Tigers past the favored Bruins all the same. Not without irony, she breathed life into the controversy and then went about proving that it wasn’t a distraction. At all. The match stayed close until the final minute, after which the defending champions relied on their trademark confidence to pull away. And while other head coaches in her position may have used the requisite post-game presser to expound on the hard-earned victory, she instead ranted against the media.
To be sure, Mulkey will be prepared for the highly anticipated rematch with the Hawkeyes, whom the Tigers trounced for the championship last year. Lisa Bluder and her charges will be ready as well, with Caitlin Clarke hoping to bring home the hardware before jumping to the pros. As far as extraneous variables go, the presumptive Player of the Year arguably has even more to deal with than the polarizing bench tactician. In any case, their Elite Eight encounter figures to be a ratings blockbuster.
Oddsmakers have Iowa prevailing by a slim margin, but LSU was even more of an underdog last year and still won pulling away. Which is to say Mulkey couldn’t care less about conventional wisdom. In fact, it’s safe to argue that she believes the purple and gold will prevail, just as she does every single time they trek to the hardwood. Whether she’s right remains to be seen, especially with Clark bent on making history after history, but it has always been her way — or the highway.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.