Kim Mulkey Rips LSU for 'Selfish' Play in Win vs. Rice: 'That Was a Bad Performance'

LSU women's basketball head coach Kim Mulkey criticized her team after the Tigers made it through the first round of the NCAA Women's Championship despite committing a season-high 24 turnovers.

LSU, a No. 3 seed, earned a 70-60 win over No. 14 Rice with a "bad performance" Friday, Mulkey said in a postgame interview on ESPN.

"I don't want to take anything away from Rice. I thought they played their hearts out. I thought it was exciting for their team," Mulkey said. "That's not the same team that LSU put on the floor in the championship of the SEC tournament."

Mulkey continued: "That was a bad performance today, and I thought it was a lot of selfish play today, and it starts with me on getting them ready, I guess."

As the defending champions, LSU were heavy favorites to win over Rice, but struggled with turnovers that led directly to 11 points for the Owls.

Although the Tigers maintained a lead for the majority of the game, the score remained close throughout. LSU led by just three points at the half and never gained more than an 11-point advantage, per Matt Guillermo of ABC 13.

Prior to Friday's win, LSU last played on March 10 during a 79-72 loss to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament Championship.

"I think some of it is, maybe we've been off ten days," Mulkey said. "Some of it is selfishness. Some of it is, maybe they just thought they were going to show up today and win. I don't have the right answer, I can give you lots of answers, but we'd better fix it before we play Middle Tennessee."

LSU is set to face Middle Tennessee State in the Round of 32 on Sunday. Game time is yet to be determined.