Was Washington Post story a distraction for LSU women's basketball? What Kim Mulkey said

BATON ROUGE — LSU women's basketball didn't get off to a great start against Middle Tennessee in their second round NCAA Tournament game inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday afternoon.

The No. 11 Blue Raiders took a 36-32 lead over the No. 3 Tigers into halftime as they couldn't quite find their rhythm on either end of the floor. LSU reasserted itself in the second half, outscoring MTSU 51-20 en route to the win and advancing to the Sweet 16 next weekend.

Leading up to the Round of 32 March Madness matchup, LSU coach Kim Mulkey lashed out at The Washington Post during her press conference on Saturday, the day before the game, for a rumored article the outlet is working up about her.

Mulkey prepared a statement that lasted almost four minutes in length and informed reporters she had "hired the best defamation law firm in the country" and that she would sue The Washington Post if it wrote a "false story about me."

It's unclear what the contents of The Post's story are. It has been teased to being released sometime next week and that Mulkey and/or LSU were aware of the piece and that "wagons (were) being circled."

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So was LSU distracted by the offcourt issue?

Mulkey says no.

"No. Listen, man, we're not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we're trying to do," Mulkey said Sunday after the Tigers' win. "Absolutely not.

"My kids didn't even know I said that yesterday. That team is not involved in this. They were in shock when they saw all that on the internet. I don't take that stuff to my team."

LSU junior forward Aneesah Morrow told The Daily Advertiser following LSU's win over Middle Tennessee that the situation with Mulkey was never discussed amongst the team in the leadup to the second-round game and that the team has remained united.

"I feel like the media sometimes do as much as they can on social media but we stay together," Morrow said. "That's as simple as it is. We stay together and know that it's us against the world."

According to Mulkey, the outlet has spent the better part of two years calling and contacting her former coaches and players for the as-yet-unpublished article.

Mulkey alleged Saturday that The Washington Post has called "former disgruntled players to get negative quotes to include in their story.

"Former players have told me that The Washington Post has contacted them and offered to let them be anonymous in a story if they'll say negative things about me," she said. "... They're ignoring the 40-plus years of positive stories that people — or they have heard from people about me."

Mulkey went further, alleging that The Post's reporting tactics were the reason "people don't journalists and the media anymore."

"You see, reporters who give a megaphone to a one-sided, embellished version of things aren't trying to tell the truth. They're trying to sell newspapers and feed the click machine," Mulkey said.

"It's these kinds of sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs that people are just tired of."

The Washington Post declined comment to the USA Today Sports Network on Saturday about its article. While it hasn't released any stories on Mulkey or LSU from its reporting, Mulkey went on the offensive before her team played Middle Tennessee and said she would take legal action if the story contained any falsehoods about her.

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"I'm fed up, and I'm not going to let The Washington Post attack this university, this awesome team of young women I have, or me without a fight. I've hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue The Washington Post if they publish a false story about me," Mulkey said.

"Not many people are in a position to hold these kinds of journalists accountable, but I am, and I'll do it."

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz atbdiaz@gannett.com.