What a thrilling end to an equally thrilling game! The No. 4 LSU Tigers beat the No. 15 Tennessee Volunteers in a fast-paced game that ended with 89-87 in Knoxville. While Kim Mulkey has become only the second SEC team ever to three straight wins over Tennessee in Knoxville after Mississippi State, it was a close call. But no matter how fun, not a lot of audiences at home got to witness the brilliant game and one LSU executive is calling it out.

With 21 seconds left on the clock, junior guard Kailyn Gilbert performed a beautiful layup that got the Tigers the win at the end. Although crowds cheered, Joe Schwartz, Assistant Coach/Assistant Director of Basketball Operations LSU WBB, took to X to reshare On3‘s Talia Goodman’s post about the ending. Schwartz captioned it, “It’s a shame this game wasn’t nationally televised…”

Despite increased attention to women’s basketball and a general rise in viewership, ESPN seems to have failed to grasp the situation. A much-awaited game, this comes after LSU won their first two games of the conference part of the season.

Coming into Thursday, Kim Caldwell and her squad were expected to make things harder for the Lady Tigers, given the coach’s run-and-gun system. But even though the Vols lead women’s college basketball in scoring offense at 97 points per game, the Tigers were one step ahead as Gilbert and Co. played the four-guard in the four-guard combination.

But it seems like despite the 16.1 million average viewership from 2023 that boosted ratings, this particular game was not shown nationally. Sure, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are not playing college hoops anymore but the overall attendance for the women’s game has still gone up.

Nevertheless, the Louisiana squad, including Mulkey, seemed to be so unstressed about the game that she was joking about the fun game it was going to be!

Kim Mulkey had a bold wish for Tennessee’s Kim

If coach Mulkey’s unique sweater already didn’t catch eyes at the game, her comments before the game sure did. She wore a black sweater that had on it a complete basket as lace and basketball in it. The message from the Lady Tigers to the Lady Vols was clear about who was winning this game. On Tuesday, Mulkey also quipped about helping Kim Caldwell deliver her baby on the court if it so happened.

“I know any moment now I was told [Caldwell] should have a baby, so I hope she has that baby right there in the middle of the game,” Mulkey, said per Cory Diaz of the Daily Advertiser. “I hope that game gets so exciting, I’ll go down there and help deliver it.”

She also related a legendary coach’s story, “Pat Summitt had quite a story about when she had her baby. She had to land that plane out of recruiting. If Kim goes into labor during our game, listen I have lots of experience, I have two. Come find me and I’ll be there to hold your hand with husband and whomever else you’d let into the room.”

Well, women’s basketball is no stranger to seeing all kinds of firsts in recent years, so this wouldn’t be different. Mulkey and her team now confidently continue SEC play with another shot at the title.