LSU Country

Stephen A. Smith Predicts Kim Mulkey, LSU Women's Basketball to Get Upset in Tourney

The ESPN analyst predicts the Tigers to get bounced early in this year's NCAA Tournament, not get out of Round 2.

Zack Nagy

Courtesy of LSU Tigers Women's Basketball.
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Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers will enter the 2025 NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed with the program set to host the first two rounds in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU will host No. 14 San Diego State in the first-round in the PMAC. The LSU/SDSU winner will face the winner of No. 4 Florida State and No. 11 George Mason.

Games will be played on Saturday and Monday in the PMAC with LSU's Round One clash set to tipoff at 9:15 p.m. CT on Saturday.

The Tigers are in the Spokane 1 Regional. Along with LSU, the other three top-four seeds are No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 NC State and No. 4. Baylor. LSU defeated NC State earlier this season in the Bahamas. The Tigers won last year’s Sweet 16 matchup against UCLA.

But ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith believes the Tigers will not make the Sweet 16 in this year's NCAA Tournament in his recent bracket submission.

Smith has logged a prediction for Mulkey's crew to fall in the Second Round to George Mason.

The Tigers will look to escape Baton Rouge in the first two rounds with the chance to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16 led by the "Big 3" of Aneesah Morrow, Mikaylah Williams and Flau'Jae Johnson.

For Morrow, the First Team All-SEC senior from Chicago has been one of the nation’s most dominant players this season.

She leads the nation with 13.6 rebounds per game and 27 double-doubles while also having 15 games this season with 20+ points, including a 36-point performance against Florida which set the LSU program record for points in a SEC Tournament game.

Morrow has also grabbed 15+ rebounds in 13 games, including four with 20+ rebounds (two 20/20 games). In eight games, Morrow has recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds. Her 436 rebounds this season currently rank No. 8 in LSU history.

A dominant player throughout her whole career, Morrow is leaving her name in the record books. She is one of two players in NCAA history with over 100 career double-doubles.

Her 1,665 career rebounds ranks No. 4 all-time in NCAA DI history. She is also one of eight players in NCAA DI history with 2,500 career points and 1,500 career rebounds.

Now, all eyes will be on the Tigers this weekend in Baton Rouge with a First Round clash against San Diego State set for 9:15 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

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Zack Nagy
ZACK NAGY

Zack Nagy is the Managing Editor and Publisher of LSU Country, a Sports Illustrated Publication. Nagy has covered Tiger Football, Basketball, Baseball and Recruiting, looking to keep readers updated on anything and everything involving LSU athletics. 

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