It has been a dream start for Kim Mulkey’s LSU Lady Tigers, who opened the season by winning their first 14 games and crossed the 100-point mark in 11 of them. But the real test is just beginning. With a brutal stretch of ranked opponents ahead, LSU needed all the help it could get as it prepared to face the Kentucky Wildcats.

And that support came from an unexpected place. LSU’s new head football coach, Lane Kiffin, was in attendance at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for the SEC opener.

A video shared by Mike Scarborough on X showed Kim Mulkey holding hands with Kiffin as they walked onto the court. Mulkey even pointed him out to the crowd, encouraging fans to give the football coach a loud cheer before tip-off. Kiffin later met Kenny Brooks, Kentucky’s women’s basketball head coach, as per nola.com, before heading off the floor.

Lane Kiffin was one of the biggest names in college football last month, widely viewed as the top target for any program searching for a new head coach. In just six seasons at Ole Miss Rebels, Kiffin transformed the Rebels from an underachieving program into a legitimate national contender. This season marked a historic breakthrough, as he guided Ole Miss to its first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff and finished 11-1 in the regular season, the best in program history.

With Lane Kiffin drawing serious interest from other programs and his future becoming a constant talking point, Keith Carter ultimately decided it was time for the Ole Miss Rebels to move in a new direction. Kiffin had reportedly made up his mind to leave and wanted to finish the season on the sidelines, but that request was denied, bringing his tenure to an early end.

Even after the split, Kiffin has remained supportive of the program. He continued to publicly support Ole Miss, backing new head coach Pete Golding and celebrating the Rebels’ dominant win over Tulane in the College Football Playoff. He even reportedly weighed attending the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal against Georgia in New Orleans with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.

Instead, he chose to be courtside as Kim Mulkey’s LSU Lady Tigers tipped off their SEC campaign. Still and all, team LSU couldn’t pull through.

Kim Mulkey and Co. Suffer First Loss of the Season

This was supposed to be LSU’s first real test of the season. Until then, the Lady Tigers hadn’t faced a ranked opponent and had been steamrolling teams, regularly crossing the 100-point mark. Even welcoming No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats at home didn’t feel like it should pose much trouble for a side with seven players averaging double figures.

But basketball has a way of humbling teams.

LSU looked like it had the game wrapped up. The Lady Tigers led 75–69 with 5:03 left and seemed firmly in control. Then everything unraveled. From that point on, Kim Mulkey’s side did not make a single field goal, a stunning offensive drought at the worst possible time.

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And the collapse was punished. With 0.5 seconds remaining and LSU clinging to a one-point lead, Tonie Morgan delivered the dagger, drilling a game-winning three-pointer for the Kentucky Wildcats. The shot instantly silenced the 11,485 fans inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Kentucky earned every bit of that win. LSU simply could not match the Wildcats’ physicality, getting dominated on the boards 45–29. And if those defensive lapses continue, the Tigers’ early-season momentum could disappear fast in what is shaping up to be a brutal SEC schedule.

The road ahead is unforgiving for LSU. With Vanderbilt, Texas, and Oklahoma all coming up in their next four games, the Tigers are about to find out exactly where they stand. And after failing to match Kentucky’s physicality, it is hard not to wonder whether a softer early schedule left them unprepared for this moment.