The LSU women's basketball team suffered a tough loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday night. In a matchup between the 6th-ranked Tigers and 3rd-ranked Gamecocks, Dawn Staley's team prevailed over Kim Mulkey's squad by a score of 79-72.
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It was a closely-contested battle from start to finish, but LSU missed too many opportunities and ultimately fell short. The win continued South Carolina's recent dominance over LSU, as the Gamecocks have now won 18 consecutive games over the Tigers. Furthermore, Staley continues to have the upper hand over Mulkey in head-to-head matchups.
Final from the PMAC pic.twitter.com/dXcALLd8mE
— LSU Women's Basketball (@LSUwbkb) February 15, 2026
Kim Mulkey and LSU left searching for answers after latest South Carolina loss
Staley seems to have Mulkey's number in head-to-head matchups. After Saturday's win, Staley is now 7-2 against Mulkey in their nine all-time head-to-head matchups. Furthermore, the South Carolina head coach is a perfect 6-0 since Mulkey took over at LSU prior to the 2021-22 season. Mulkey beat South Carolina twice while at Baylor, with one win coming in 2018 and one in 2019, but has yet to defeat Staley while at LSU.
Saturday's contest yielded another frustrating loss for Mulkey and the Tigers, as LSU had their chances but were not able to capitalize. The Tigers missed several lay-ups and nine free throws which made finding the win column extremely difficult. South Carolina made the most of its chances at the charity stripe, as the Gamecocks shot 15-of-17 (88%) from the free throw line while LSU was 14-of-23 (61%). South Carolina was also more effective from deep, shooting 8-for-17 (47%) from beyond the arc while LSU shot just 2-for-12 (17%) from three.
The loss drops LSU to 22-4 overall and 8-4 in SEC play, while South Carolina is now 25-2 overall and 11-1 in conference play. While the loss is frustrating for Mulkey's team, there is still a strong possibility that these teams will meet again later this season in either the SEC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.
LSU is back in action on Thursday, February 19 with a road tilt at No. 14 Ole Miss. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m. CT.