Kim Mulkey Addresses MiLaysia Fulwiley Emotions Against South Carolina

LSU Tigers coach Kim Mulkey assessed how MiLaysia Fulwiley performed against her former team.

LSU Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

Any time the LSU Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball teams face each other, it's must-see television.

This is because LSU and South Carolina are perennial national championship contenders, have won the championship in three of the past four seasons, and have two of the most accomplished and famous coaches in the sport, in Dawn Staley and Kim Mulkey.

However, their first showdown of the 2025-26 NCAA season, which arrived on February 14, carried added intrigue because it marked the first time that LSU star guard MiLaysia Fulwiley was playing her former team after transferring from South Carolina to LSU this past offseason.

LSU Tigers guard Milaysia Fulwiley (23) | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

There's no question that Fulwiley is a game-changer. However, this can be both a good and a bad thing for her team, depending on how well Fulwiley can channel her elite pace into productive minutes instead of spiraling out of control.

And since Saturday's game was sure to be emotional, there was a ton of interest about how Fulwiley would handle facing Staley and her former teammates.

MiLaysia Fulwiley’s composure is the story tonight when LSU faces South Carolina pic.twitter.com/P5ACahSyX5

— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) February 15, 2026

Kim Mulkey Gets Honest About MiLaysia Fulwiley Facing South Carolina

South Carolina managed to secure a hard-fought 79-72 win against LSU on February 14. Fulwiley struggled, scoring 6 points on 1 of 8 shooting from the field and adding 3 turnovers in 23 minutes played.

Kim Mulkey addressed how she prepared Fulwiley for this game when speaking with the media after her team's loss.

“I didn’t just sit with her and have a one-on-one conversation. I think I just coached her in front of her teammates. And I hope she has butterflies, because if she has butterflies, it means she’s invested in this program, and she’s excited," Mulkey said about Filwiley, per a YouTube video from LSU Tigers on TigerBait.

"Don’t try to do too much. Just play. I thought she did typical Fulwiley. Give you some outstanding plays, stripped Raven [Johnson] early in the game. Got some layups, but then she turned it over," Mulkey continued. "And that’s part of who she is. We’ve got to continue to make positives, be pluses, when she’s in the ballgame and not minuses, because she has tremendous quickness. She has just things that she does naturally."

Perhaps LSU will get another chance to play South Carolina either in the SEC Tournament or in the NCAA Tournament. Fulwiley would surely love another crack at making a more positive impact against her former team.