Kim Mulkey, LSU give latest update on Last-Tear Poa injury

LSU defeated Ole Miss 75-67 in the SEC tournament semi-finals on Saturday night in Greenville, but the main storyline after the win was about junior guard Last-Tear Poa. Poa suffered a scary concussion in the fourth quarter of the game, attempting to take a charge. She attempted to get up and was helped off before falling down to the court again where she then had her neck stabilized and was carted off the court.
LSU posted this on Saturday night, saying Poa was expected to be released from the hospital tonight.
Hereâs what Kim Mulkey and her players had to say about the injury and trying to respond during the game.
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey
Yes As I was walking to this press conference The trainer told me that her cat scan. Is that right? CT scan cat scan, whatever you call it Came back clean So thatâs wonderful news. I spoke to her mother. The kid took quite a lick on the back of her head. I did not see it I saw it on the film just a minute ago and I wouldnât even look at it. I know enough about Poa that if she canât get up and she tries to get up and sheâs in bad shape her teammates know that.
She was just a little bit unresponsive, mostly is how I would describe it. She could squeeze your hand lightly. She could tell you she could feel her legs. But she couldnât really articulate well enough for you not to be afraid. The kids were right there, so they saw it all so I sent them to the bench and told coach Starkey to take over while I stayed with Poa. Poa is one of the toughest kids Iâve coached and I know she will be fine. I know the power of prayer and we were doing a lot of praying in that huddle.â
How did you keep your team focused on the game?
âHonestly I donât give a damn about the game at that point. I really donât. Thatâs somebodyâs child. Thatâs my player. And those are my players in that huddle. So when I got to the huddle, it was bad. It was just very, very emotional.I think Angel spoke up. I think Hailey Van Lith spoke up. Like, weâve got to get through this. Weâve got to finish the game. And they dug deep. It was one of the more gutsy performances of a team Iâve ever coached. Because at that point, really, the game means nothing. It really doesnât. And I think you have to dig and think âWow, do I really want to just call out a play here because youâre thinking about I need to be in that ambulance with Poa?â but sheâs in great hands with our doctor who travels with us and one of my coaches and president Dr. Tate and I will go as soon as weâre done with y âall to the hospital.âÂ
On adjustments in the fourth quarterâŠ
âWe were struggling to run anything. Not playing Mikaylah. Angels got a tweaked ankle, so your rotation is kind of not fluid. Youâre playing Janae, youâre playing Aalyah more, which is good for our team, and itâs good for those kids. And then when Poa went down. Itâs not only emotional, but youâre still trying to figure out really how to win a ball game. Did I draw up anything special or call out? I was calling anything I thought would work. But there was a point in one of the timeouts where I looked at them and I said, âI need your help right now. Iâm not a very good coach right now. What do y âall want to run?â So that makes them take ownership and it also makes them take away the emotion from them that they got to play coach for a minute.Â
Call it psychology, call it what you want, but thatâs what I did. And so they said, letâs run this play. Each one of them wanted to say and suggest something. So I kind of got the tears away from them and just made them play coach for a period of time right there.â
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On LSU playing in the championship gameâŠ
âWell I think this is my third year at LSU and this is the first championship in the conference tournament that weâve played in and thatâs big. That was a goal of ours was when you get to the conference tournament, get to that championship game. I think youâre going to see two teams that are tired. They had to play hard to win today. We had to play hard and it may not be a pretty game. Who knows?Â
It is two of the most recognizable teams in the country and Quite honestly If I remember the national championships come through the SEC right So maybe youâre watching one of us win a national championship again. It would be fun to keep it in the SEC.â
F Angel Reese and F Aneesah Morrow
Angel Reese on getting emotional when Poa was helped offâŠ
So much is going through your mind and just praying for her. She means so much for this team. She sacrifices her body every single night. She has 30 charges this year and being able to understand that that could have happened at any moment And thatâs why I was telling the FlauâJae donât blame yourself for this and just trying to keep the team together as much as we can because Poal will want us to stay together. Poa wants us to play hard and do this for her and win this game and play tough. She is one of the toughest players on our team. So being able to just fight. We hit a couple big shots and we all just said thatâs for Poa.
We kept trying to get through that that was the hardest five minutes of a game that Iâve ever played So emotionally physically mentally, I think we just stayed poised and stayed together at that tim.â
Aneesah Morrow on LSU getting through the last five minutesâŠ
âEverybody was emotional and tearing up. But our team has been through hell. Like, letâs be honest. And we just told each other we have to have each other back. Like, weâve been through worse than this. And just had to pull it back because she wouldnât want us to win this game for her.â
Angel Reese on LSU playing for the titleâŠ
Iâm proud of this team, regardless. I mean, weâre going to go out there and fight and fight and give it our all and give everything that we got, and weâre going to battle. We know what South Carolina has. We shouldnât let them slip away at home. So Iâm just proud of where we are, because, I mean, last year, we lost in the semis, and now weâre going to the championship. Like I said, everything weâve been through this year, from not playing games to different lineups to ACL tears to losing teammates, so many different things that have happened within the team, itâs no better time than now. And Iâm up for the challenge, we are up for the challenge, our coaches are up for the challenge, and Iâm ready for tomorrow. Weâre going to be ready.â