The Reveille 4-3-23

TIGERS ON TOP

LSU wins national championship in Kim Mulkey’s second season

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BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

Making the Final Four in the second year under Kim Mulkey was a huge deal for the LSU women’s basketball program. Making it to the national championship was an even bigger deal. But winning the national championship is the biggest surprise of all.

LSU made history Sunday afternoon with a 102-85 win over Iowa in the women’s college basketball National Championship game.

LSU finishes the 2022-23 season with a 34-2 record. With this national title, the team becomes LSU’s first basketball team, both men and women, to win a national championship. In addition, Kim Mulkey becomes the first college basketball coach to win national titles at multiple schools.

The Tigers arrived at the American Airlines Center in Dallas Sunday afternoon set to play the season’s biggest game with the most on the line. The players, the coaches and the stakes hyped the game up more than it already was. But the player who came up biggest for the Tigers hadn’t seen the spotlight since LSU’s Round of 32 matchup versus Michigan.

Jasmine Carson was held scoreless through the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four match-

ups, but it only took one make in the national championship to get her rolling. In her last game for LSU, Carson scored 22 points, shooting 5 of 6 from three, seven for eight from the field, and 3 of 4 from the foul line.

“It was a surreal moment, every player dreams of being on the big stage like this and having the game of your life,” Carson said. “I was just living in the moment.”

However, she was contained entering the second half, and Iowa started to crawl back. Luckily for LSU, all of its offense seemed to click.

Angel Reese and LaDazhia Williams held the fort down in the paint once again. Williams finished with 20 points on the game, and Reese finished with her 34th double-double performance of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

After Carson cooled down after halftime, Flau’jae Johnson and Alexis Morris picked up the slack for the guards. Morris scored 21 points and nine assists.

“She just gets into a mode where she’s just unstoppable at some point,” Reese said of Morris. “She played a great defensive game, it wasn’t all her offense tonight. It was her defense.”

Johnson added 10 points with seven rebounds and four assists.

Just as LSU had an all-around impressive offensive day, Iowa

did as well, and it was led by the player who has led them all season in Caitlin Clark.

Clark was close to unstoppable from three, a performance that backed up why she is this season’s AP women’s basketball National Player of the Year. She finished with 30 points including eight made three-pointers. She also added eight assists.

But the Hawkeyes saw other players make shots from the perimeter. Kate Martin scored 13 points with three made threes and six assists, and Gabbie Marshall scored 12 points with two made threes.

The guards showed out for Iowa, but their post players didn’t disappoint. Monika Czinano finished with 13 points and six rebounds. McKenna Warnock added nine points for the Hawkeyes.

To everyone on the team, there is no better feeling than winning a national title. It was a team of returners, transfers and freshmen. They’ve talked about “piecing it together” all season long, and it’s safe to say a national championship pieced everything together.

But to the seniors, it means everything.

Morris started her college career with Mulkey at Baylor, but Mulkey had to release her from the team due to an off the court

issue. Fast forward to Sunday, Morris is reunited with Mulkey at LSU, this time cutting nets and holding up a trophy.

“This is a kid who owned her mistake, this is a kid who never blamed a coach,” Mulkey said. “Look where she is sitting today. What a remarkable story.”

But in her second season at LSU, a national championship was the last thing on Mulkey’s mind; that was a plan she had further down the road. But for the three national titles she won at Baylor, none of them can compare to winning one for her home state of Louisiana.

“With about a minute and 30 to go, I couldn’t hold it, I got very emotional” Mulkey said. “I don’t know if it’s the mere fact that we’re doing this in the second year that I’m home, I don’t know if it was the fact that I am home, I don’t know if it was looking across there at my daughter and my grandchildren. I don’t know what it was, but I lost it.”

Mulkey has always said the program has not arrived yet because they’ve “only won basketball games.” But now she’s helped not only the program, but the school win its first basketball national championship.

It was quicker than expected, but the mission is accomplished. Mulkey has brought LSU women’s basketball back to life.

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CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS

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ABOUT THE REVEILLE

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REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey lifts their trophy into the air on April 2 after LSU’s 102-85 against Iowa in the NCAA National Championship in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

NEWS RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.

Here’s what to do if there’s an active threat on campus

BY CROSS HARRIS @thecrossharris

Students and staff had the opportunity at the end of March to be instructed on how to survive an active threat by LSU’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training/Academy of Counter Terrorist Education: LSU NCBRT/ACE for short, or in conversation simply “NCBRT.”

The organization with the long name holds noble aspirations: “To influence, develop, and deliver specialized training and education,” reads its mission, “providing the skills necessary to prepare for, respond to, and recover from complex threats and high-consequence events.”

That mission arises from a long list of tragic school shootings: Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Uvalde. There have been over 4,000 mass shootings in the U.S. since 2014, according to the Gun Violence Archive. And this year, the nonprofit has already tallied 131.

So, on Tuesday, March 28, and Wednesday, March 29, the NCBRT set up shop in LSU’s Student Union to deliver four sessions (two each day) of its

HEALTHCARE

course, called “Surviving an Active Threat: Run. Hide. Fight.” Here, participants learned the finer points of the three steps outlined in the title.

“It’s all about preparedness,” said NCBRT lecturer Jeff Holcomb during the final session on Wednesday, “It’s very unlikely that you’ll be involved in an active threat, but it could happen.”

The chances are low but nev-

er zero.

Plus, “the body can’t go where the mind’s never been,” Holcomb added. So, in the interest of survival, these are the basics of run, hide, fight:

First, you have to recognize that a threat is present. When confronted with a shocking situation, we typically enter a state of denial. In the same way that you might convince yourself that

those shots in the night came from a firework rather than a firearm, so too are we often slow to recognize when our lives are in danger, Holcomb said.

And denial itself is dangerous because it delays response times. “The longer you take, the less options you have,” LSUPD Chief Bart Thompson said.

ADMINISTRATION

Manship announces dean candidates

BY GABBY JIMENEZ @gvjimenezz

The Manship School of Mass Communication announced its four finalists for dean of the college in an email Wednesday.

Candidates Gordon Stables, Kim Bissell, Mia Long Anderson and Paul Mihailidis will participate in on-campus interviews in the Holliday Forum during the first two weeks of April.

Stables is the director of the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California. His open forum will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 3.

Bissell is a journalism professor and the associate dean for research in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. Her open forum will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 5.

Long Anderson is a professor and associate dean at Sam Houston State University. Her

Forum addresses concerns about grad student healthcare plan

BY LIZZIE FALCETTI

A Graduate Student Healthcare Policy Forum took place Thursday in the Magnolia room of the Student Union to highlight recommendations for graduate student health insurance and hear from panelists on changes to address graduate student needs.

Graduate Student Association President Lyric Mandell shared results from a survey conducted by the Graduate Student Health Care Committee assessing healthcare coverage for graduate students.

According to the results, 97% of students surveyed think LSU should provide graduate students with healthcare, and 100% believe the university should bear the burden of costs related to health insurance.

J. Cullen Hodges, vice chair of the Committee on the Graduate Student Healthcare Crisis, explained that out of 6,480 graduate students, around 500 have the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP).

“This is very clearly an extremely unpopular insurance program,” Hodges said. “So, the one that makes this insurance program that is so unpopular, [Gallagher Student Health], is also the one that is re -

sponsible for making the graduate health insurance plan quotes for the new plan that we will be enrolled in next fall.”

Hodges showed the new Gallagher insurance quotes that are being discussed for implementation.

“Every one of these quotes, for different scenarios of pooling, the members are more expensive than the current untenable rate of $3,064,” Hodges said. “Gallagher also wrote down the percentages of these increases, the least expensive of which is still 4.5% more expensive for the same or equal health insurance coverage.”

Hodges then outlined the difference between universities who have union-negotiated health insurance contracts and schools like LSU, who do not. Prices were significantly lower for unionized universities, but services were the same, Hodges showed.

“The numbers don’t lie. The plan is simple,” Hodges said. “If you don’t have somebody representing your best interest as a worker, somebody is going to take advantage of you, and you’re going to get caught with the bottom line for which an insurance company is completely indifferent.”

Hodges explained facets of the graduate assistant health insurance

policy recommendation that proposes not to use Gallagher as the middle-man for the health insurance package.

In this approach, LSU graduate assistants would be enrolled in the LSU First Healthcare Plan with full coverage for individuals and dependents. Health insurance costs would not exceed 2% of the offered stipend, with remaining costs subsidized by the university and healthcare provider Our Lady of the Lake.

A graduate student attendee asked the panelists if there are plans to unionize against Gallagher.

“I didn’t see any of that in the policy recommendations,” the attendee said. “If it’s such a major difference between unionizing and not unionizing then the obvious solution is unionize, especially since Gallagher is the only supplier … I’m sure there are dozens and dozens of other insurance carriers that would just love to get the LSU contract.”

The audience cheered in response, but panelists who consisted of health care and graduate school workers were not associated with any insurance company and did not respond.

In another discussion, panelist Joni Lemoine, senior director of

OLOL, spoke about a new offering from the partnership between the Student Health Center and OLOL.

“We’re also looking to expand pharmacy options to deliver meds whether you are on campus or off campus,” Lemoine said. “Additional access to some specialists that may get a little more difficult today to get into, you’ll have more access to those — that group of physicians. You’ll remain on MyChart, so that even after grad school you’ll continue to be on that platform, which will continue to allow you to get healthcare.”

Geography graduate student Cehong Luo attended the forum to gather information on the policy changes.

Luo has the SHIP plan and asked

about changes to co-payments for Student Health Center visits as a result of the partnership with Our Lady of the Lake.

Panelist Dr. Catherine O’Neal, chief OLOL medical officer, explained that because SHIP was designed specifically for Student Health Center benefits and OLOL was not a previous Student Health Center provider, that plan had not been included as an OLOL member plan.

OLOL is currently negotiating with the plan carrier to reduce the cost of deductibles for the Student Health Center.

“We are actively, this week, seeking an agreement so that you don’t have to pay that co-pay,” O’Neal said.

@lizziefalcetti

see DEAN, page 4

CROSS HARRIS / The Reveille Students study and eat in the LSU Student Union on March 31.

see SAFETY, page 4

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille LSU graduate student Cullen Hodges presents the findings of the Committee on the Graduate Student Healthcare Crisis on March 30 inside the Student Union in Baton Rouge, La.

During an active threat, you want to move past denial as quickly as possible and onto the next stage: deliberation.

At this point, you’ve come to grips with the fact that there’s someone armed and dangerous in your vicinity. Now you have to decide whether to run, hide or fight. But what to do?

“Fighting is the last resort,” Holcomb said. “But you may still have to do it.” If that’s the case, then arm yourself. Use anything at your disposal: a pencil, scis -

open forum will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 11.

Mihailidis is a journalism professor and assistant dean at Emerson College. His open forum will take place from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 13.

The search committee that selected the candidates is composed of faculty and staff members in the college. Previous finalists for the position were dismissed in April 2021.

Josh Grimm was appointed as the interim dean of the college in October 2020 after former dean Martin Johnson died of a heart attack in September 2020.

sors, chair, fire extinguisher— and if there are other people with you, fight as a group.

But if you don’t absolutely have to fight, then decide between running and hiding. Here are some of the considerations that should go through your head when you choose:

Do you know how far away the shooter is? Can you safely put distance between where they are and where you are? If so, run. Preferably in zig-zags and taking cover when you can, just in case the threat appears unexpectedly.

“We do these trainings all

over,” Holcomb said. “Once we were in St. Croix, and they have a lot of chickens down there. We were walking down the street, and we saw a rooster chasing a hen. The hen was zig-zagging all over the place.”

If you’re going to run during an active threat, “be the chicken,” Holcomb said. “It’s much more difficult for someone to take aim that way.”

Otherwise, hide.

“And hide with intention,” he added.

Survey the room you’re in and check the exits. Are the doors

open? Close them. Do they lock? Lock them. If not, barricade the entryway with desks, chairs, anything at your disposal. Also, does the door have a window? Cover it. Then turn the lights off and make as little noise as possible. When safe to do so, call 911. Quietly.

And if someone comes to the door, don’t open it. Even if you know them, even if you feel bad, leave the door shut, Holcomb said.

Afterwards, “continuously evaluate your options,” said Holcomb.

In an emergency situation, conditions are constantly changing, which means your plan of action may need to change, too.

At the end of the session, Holcomb reiterated the importance of being prepared. “My suggestion to everyone is get some kind of training,” he said, noting an absence of undergraduate students at the four sessions. “And what I tell undergrads who take this course is that it’s not just to survive your four years in school. This can happen anywhere—the grocery store this afternoon, at church next Sunday.”

DEAN, from page 3

SAFETY, from page 3

MORGAN COOK / The Reveille

A tour group walks March 7 through the courtyard between Murphy J. Foster Hall and LSU Library in Baton Rouge, La.

ENTERTAINMENT

Kim Mulkey’s best and brightest outfits of the season

BY EMILY POIRRIER @Emily_Poirrier

LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey has brought the team one of its best seasons in style.

Mulkey is known for her expressive faces and passion for women’s basketball. She is the first and only person in college basketball to win a Division I national championship as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

But Mulkey doesn’t wear typical coach apparel. She brings the fire to every game, starting with her outfits. Her style differs from your average 60-year-old – she loves sparkles, bold patterns and bright colors, making her the true star of the court.

Many of her favorite outfits come from Queen of Sparkles, a brand founded by local designer Jamie Glas, who’s known for bedazzling her clothes and adding unique designs making oneof-a-kind pieces. This is seen in Mulkey’s polka dot or heart blazers.

Many times she questions if her outfits are over the top and has to give herself a pep talk into wearing them.

“There are ones I really have to talk myself into wearing,” Mulkey told The Advocate. “I ask, ‘Is it stylish or does it look like a clown?’”

No outfit is complete without shoes, and from pumps and stilettos, Mulkey has plenty.

She owns over 171 pairs, according to the Advocate, with brands varying from Christian Louboutin to Ralph Lauren.

My personal favorite is Mulkey’s fully hot pink suit and heels outfit. It’s incredible because, to the average person, this outfit might seem uncomfortable to coach in, but it doesn’t phase her as she stays making a statement game after game.

While many fans enjoy going to the games to see what outfit Mulkey will sport, others question her fun fashion taste and take to social media to pick fun at her clothing choices.

Of all her outfits, the one thatgot the most negative attention on social media with users comparing her to “The Muppets.”

Mulkey’s Final Four outfit also drew attention on social media, as she wore yet another bright pink ensemble. This time, her granddaughter also tagged along to support Mulkey in matching style.

No matter your opinion on Mulkey’s coaching, there’s no denying that she’s changing the fashion game for college basketball.

In this outfit, Mulkey does a monochromatic look, including a bright purple stiletto to pull everything together.

At the LSU vs. Ole Miss game, Mulkey sported a sparkling pink blazer with rainbow butterflies from Queen of Sparkles. After LSU took the win, she was so ecstatic she gifted her blazer to an adoring fan.

Mulkey is able to keep it relatively simple at times, by wearing a sweater or sweater vest. But she will always incorporate something a little special, such as sleeves adorned with feathers or sparkly letters.

Even LSU mascot Mike the Tiger has joined in on the fun by having his own matching butterfly jacket to Mulkey’s at games, which shows just how important and iconic Mulkey’s style has become to LSU women’s basketball.

COURTESY OF YAHOO! SPORTS Kim Mulkey during their regular season with a win over Mississippi State Feb. 26 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

COURTESY OF NOLA.COM

Kim Mulkey coaches against Ole Miss during their 69-60 regular season with a win Feb. 16 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

TARUN KAKARALA/ The Reveille Kim Mulkey shouts to the LSU women’s basketball team during their 66-42 win against Michigan in the second round of March Madness March 19 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

CHYNNA MCCLINTON / The Reveille

Mike the Tiger runs out of the tunnel wearing a replica jacket of LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey Feb. 10, 2022, before LSU’s 73-67 win against Georgia in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

COURSTESY OF THE DAILY ADVERTISER

Rei Stevens, LSU freshmen with butterfly blazer gifted by Kim Mulkey following the win against Ole Miss.

COURTESY OF 247 SPORTS

Then-Baylor coach Kim Mulkey coaches her team during a Women’s Final Four semifinal against Oregon on April 5, 2019, in Tampa, Fl.

MORGAN COOK / The Reveille Kim Mulkey yells during LSU’s 73-50 win against Hawaii March 17 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

COURTESY OF YAHOO! NEWS

Kim Mulkey March 24 during LSU’s Sweet Sixteen 66-63 victory over Utah at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, S.C

COURTESY OF ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kim Mulkey celebrates after an NCAA Women’s Final Four semifinals basketball game 79-72 victory against Virginia Tech March 31 in Dallas.

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille Confetti falls on the LSU women’s basketball team on April 2 after LSU’s 102-85 against Iowa in the NCAA National Championship in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Photos by Reagan Cotten

ONAL CH S

women’s basketball defeats Iowa 102-85 on April 2 in the NCAA National Championship in the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

LSU women’s basketball graduate student forward LaDazhia Williams (0) jumps for the shot.

LSU women’s basketball fans celebrate.

LSU women’s basketball 5th-year-senior guard Alexis Morris (45) holds up a trophy.

LSU women’s basketball freshman guard Flau’jae Johnson (4) shoots past her defender.

LSU women’s basketball sophomore forward Angel Reese (10) holds up three fingers.

LSU women’s basketball graduate student guard Jasmine Carson (2) drives towards the basket.

Confetti fills the room.

LSU women’s basketball 5th-year-senior guard Alexis Morris (45) drives toward the paint.

LSU women’s basketball 5th-yearsenior guard Alexis Morris (45) drives toward the paint.

LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey lifts their trophy into the air.

LSU

LSU women’s basketball players smile.

LSU women’s basketball sophomore forward Angel Reese (10) attempts to make a layup.

LSU women’s basketball graduate student forward LaDazhia Williams (0) and LSU women’s basketball sophomore forward Angel Reese (10) point to their ring fingers.

LSU women’s basketball freshman guard Flau’jae Johnson (4) embraces LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey.

Confetti falls.

REBUILD COMPLETE

Column: Record-setting performance caps off historic title run

In terms of turning dust to gold, not many come close to Kim Mulkey and the LSU women’s basketball program in the world of college sports.

Coming off nine wins in the 2020-21 season and the departure of head coach Nikki Fargas, LSU athletic director Scott Woodward pulled off the hire of the offseason by landing three-time national champion head coach Mulkey.

You could say the rest was history.

Despite low projections heading into her first season and a rough, early loss to Florida Gulf Coast, things quickly transitioned in the other direction for the Tigers. In just 11 games, it had surpassed its previous win total, earned its first top-15 win of the Mulkey era and placed in the AP Top-25, as those preseason expectations were aptly forgotten about.

When LSU went into halftime against No. 1 South Carolina with a six-point lead, the team had already proven capable of a championship run, even after the eventual national champions came back and defeated LSU by six. That came in her 16th game with the program, fresh off backto-back ranked wins over No. 13 Georgia and No. 23 Texas A&M.

Ultimately, it surpassed 25 regular season wins for the first time since 2008 and advanced in

BASKETBALL

the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014 within her first season with the program. But it still left plenty on the table and the postseason went about as badly as possible.

The last three games of the season went as follows: a 15-point loss to seven-seed Kentucky to start and finish its SEC tournament run, a three-point victory over No. 14 Jackson State in the Round of 64 of the

NCAA Tournament and another 15-point loss to conclude its season, this time against No. 6 seeded Ohio State.

Though that temporarily put a damper on what had been a promising season up to that point, it did little to alleviate the high expectations the team had entering its second season under Mulkey.

Despite losing star guard Khayla Pointer and a multi-

tude of other key contributors, Mulkey did what she could to build around the sparse remains from the prior season’s roster.

She paired Maryland transfer Angel Reese, Missouri transfer LaDazhia Williams, West Virginia transfer Jasmine Carson, Ohio State transfer Kateri Poole and five-star prospect Flau’Jae Johnson with LSU’s lone remaining

BASEBALL

No. 1 LSU baseball falls short in finale

BY COLE HERNANDEZ @Ct_hernandez

Baseball fans in Baton Rouge enjoyed a beautiful Saturday afternoon for game three of the series between top ranked LSU and No. 9 Tennessee.

The Tigers were attempting to sweep Tennessee for the first time since 2018 in Baton Rouge, but that plan did not come to fruition.

LSU baseball did, however, win its first three SEC series for the first time since 2013.

Tennessee jumped on the board early with six runs on four hits in the top of the first inning. Sophomore right hander and LSU’s starter Thatcher Hurd struggled right away, and LSU’s defense didn’t help much with an error.

Hurd only threw 22 pitches and didn’t last through the first inning. He allowed six runs on four hits and didn’t throw a single strikeout. His record for the season now stands at 2-1 as he was charged with the loss.

Junior left-hander Riley Cooper relieved Hurd. Cooper didn’t fare much better against the loud Tennessee bats. Cooper fired 88 total pitches in 5.2 innings but gave up six runs on eight hits with five strikeouts.

Tennessee needed this win to make up for their lackluster performance in the first two games and it delivered on that idea.

Carson leads LSU to title: ‘I wanted to do anything my team needed’

BY PETER RAUTERKUS @peter_rauterkus

Big time players make big time plays in big time games.

That phrase is used almost ad nauseam when talking about big performances in championship games. But sometimes, it’s the players not often in the spotlight that make the difference.

That was the case for LSU on Sunday.

Jasmine Carson, who hadn’t scored a point since the second round of the tournament, was that player for LSU.

She scored 22 points, 21 of which coming in the first half. That performance led LSU to a 17-point lead and 59 first half points, the most in national championship history.

Though she only scored one point the rest of the game, her impact was the driving force of LSU

having one of its best offensive games of the season.

Coming into this game, LSU had been struggling from the perimeter. The Tigers made just 14 three-pointers all tournament to that point, but made 11 in the championship game.

Carson had five of those makes.

“I wanted to do anything that my team needed in this game,” Carson said. “Whether it was defense, rebounding, just anything supporting them.”

To say Carson merely supported her team in the win is an understatement. Twenty-two was her second-highest point total of the season, and she picked the best possible time to have one of the best games of her career.

Carson’s role this season has fluctuated, along with her suc-

see SERIES, page 10

HENRY HUBER @HenryHuber_

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille

LSU women’s basketball freshman guard Flau’jae Johnson (4) embraces LSU women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey on April 2 during LSU’s 102-85 against Iowa in the NCAA National Championship in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

see HISTORY, page 10

REAGAN COTTEN/ The Reveille

LSU women’s basketball graduate student guard Jasmine Carson (2) drives towards the basket on April 2 during LSU’s 102-85 against Iowa in the NCAA National Championship in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. see CLUTCH, page 10

HISTORY, from page 9

starter in guard Alexis Morris, which made up its top-six players in terms of minutes per game this season.

Fans didn’t know it at the time, but her acquisitions from both the transfer portal and 2022 recruiting class would take this team to unexplored heights. In what would have been a rebuilding season with an average coach, the Tigers would once again sport championship aspirations.

Its 23 straight wins to open the season perfectly coincided with sophomore Angel Reese’s record-breaking streak of 23 double-doubles, a span of which they beat their opponents by an average of over 31 points. But even as the Tigers finished the

SERIES, from page 9

The Volunteer offense combined for 17 hits that translated into 14 runs. The pitching duo of sophomore right-hander, starter Drew Beam and senior righthander Camden Sewell, who was credited with the win, threw 121 total pitches combined. Tennessee had seven strikeouts and allowed 11 hits but the Tigers were only able to turn that into seven runs.

The scoreboard read 10-6 through the first five innings of play and both teams had 10 hits. Tennessee had three errors and LSU had one at the time. Neither team had an error through the final four innings.

The Volunteer offense was led by the trio of sophomore first baseman Blake Burke, sophomore catcher Jared Dickey and junior leftfielder Kyle Booker. They each had three hits and combined to score four runs.

“You tip your hat to Tennessee today; we saw another really

regular season with one loss, there were still doubts.

For one, the SEC wasn’t the strongest conference, as despite having seven teams in the tournament, just four of those were seeded No. 8 and below. Considering LSU’s lone matchup against No. 1 South Carolina was a blowout loss and its most considerable win came against No. 4 seeded Tennessee, the doubt wasn’t entirely unreasonable, though it did disregard the fact that the Tigers managed an absurd 27-1 regular-season record.

A blown lead in their SEC semifinal matchup against Tennessee dropped it to a No. 3 seed for a second straight season but despite the parallels to last season, this time they prevailed. The Tigers presented little worry against No. 14 seeded Hawai’i

good pitcher on the mound and their offense is explosive,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “Our players know the things we need to do better that we did not do well today. We’ll work on those and move forward.”

LSU’s offense was led by junior centerfielder Dylan Crews and junior leftfielder Tre’ Morgan. Crews went 4 for 4 at the plate with three RBIs and extended his hit streak to 26 games. Morgan got on base in half of his at-bats, scored twice and had two RBIs.

The final score of 14-7 in game three legitimizes Tennessee as a national championship contender and shows the rest of the NCAA how good the SEC is.

LSU falls to 24-4 on the season and 6-3 in SEC play. Tennessee improves to 21-8 and 4-5 in conference play.

LSU baseball will be back at Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday night for a matchup with in-state rival Nicholls State at 6:30 p.m. CT.

and even when they drew another No. 6 seed from the Big 10 in Michigan, LSU blew through its competition with a 24-point win.

It stumbled a bit on its way to its first Final Four appearance since 2008, needing a small amount of luck to advance past No. 2 seeded Utah and struggling to score against No. 9 seeded Miami, but it got the job done in each of those and put itself in position to make program history.

After five straight seasons from 2003 to 2008 where it made it to the Final Four and failed to advance, Mulkey and this Tiger squad made history, not only making it to its first ever championship but winning it in electric fashion.

It did so thanks to an improbable nine-point comeback

against No. 1 seeded Virginia Tech and a historic offensive performance in the title game against No. 2 seeded Iowa, a game in which it beat the championship record for most points with 102.

In just two seasons with the program, Mulkey turned a program that hadn’t advanced past the Final Four in its history or won a tournament game since 2014 into a champion, a feat not many coaches in college sports history have accomplished. The best comparison I could come up with was Nick Saban, who won a national championship in just his third season with Alabama.

Being that Saban is considered by most to be the best coach in college football history, that says a lot about the legacy of Mulkey.

cess. She spent most of the earlier part of the season as a starter, but her minutes went down in the postseason.

“Jasmine wasn’t benched for any reason other than I needed bigger bodies for some of the teams we played in the playoffs,” Mulkey said. “Jasmine may be the second-best pure shooter that I’ve ever coached in my career. She can just light it up.”

She averaged just 10.8 minutes per game in the NCAA Tournament leading up to the national championship. With that came lesser numbers, only reaching double figures in one game during March Madness.

Given LSU’s recent run, though, many called for efficient three-point shooting being key for LSU. The Tigers had been dominant on defense and on the glass, but were struggling to hit that final gear from the perimeter.

Against Iowa, the biggest key was keeping up with Iowa’s highscoring offense. Iowa made 14 three-pointers in the game, but even still, that wasn’t enough to keep up with LSU.

LSU’s 102 points set a national championship game record. Carson added 22 of those and also helped LSU gain momentum as a team from three-point range.

The Tigers shot a scoring 9 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first half, which set the tone for an offense that continued to build confidence.

That confidence and momentum never ceased, and ultimately led to LSU’s first national championship in school history.

And for Carson, a two-time transfer, she experienced the moment most players merely dream of. She holds the claim of a national championship standout and unlikely hero on the biggest stage in the sport.

“It was a surreal moment, every player dreams of being on the big stage like this and having the game of your life,” Carson said. “I was just living in the moment.”

REAGAN COTTEN / The Reveille LSU baseball redshirt junior outfielder Brayden Jobert (6) runs to first base on March 24 during LSU’s 3-9 loss against Arkansas in Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

REAGAN COTTEN/ The Reveille Confetti falls on the LSU women’s basketball team on April 2 after LSU’s 102-85 against Iowa in the NCAA National Championship in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

CLUTCH, from page 9

Letter from the Editor: The Reveille needs your support

BY JOSH ARCHOTE @JArchote

The Reveille’s ability and freedom to continue providing substantive coverage of the LSU community hinges on our readers’ support. That’s why I’m asking you to donate to our fundraiser this week.

LSU’s award-winning student newspaper has undergone significant changes in the last year. Many of these improvements wouldn’t have been possible without the generous donations to our annual fundraiser.

Last year, money from our fundraiser went toward our newly-renovated newsroom in the basement of Hodges Hall. It sent Reveille editors and reporters to Washington D.C. for a professional development conference. And it helped us incorporate video journalism into our online content.

Looking forward, this year’s

donations will be used to continue bringing the Reveille into the 21st century, with better video and audio equipment. And it will continue to send sports and news reporters around the state and country to cover events. It may also help us pay for public records requests, a vital part of our ability to maintain a watchdog role over LSU, and which the university has recently begun charging reporters for.

Reveille reporters are not simply journalists in training – their work is vital for the LSU community, and it can lead to real, substantial change.

At times our coverage has bothered those in positions of power. Indeed, this is nothing new for the 136-year-old newspaper. Editors and reporters here have been fighting for journalistic freedom for close to a century.

It began with The Reveille Seven, who were expelled from the university for critical coverage of

Huey P. Long. And Reveille editors, now including myself, have gone to court to unearth public records the university fights to keep out of the public eye.

Whether it’s a $5 or $500 donation, please donate and help us continue providing critical coverage of the LSU community. You can get Reveille merch with your donation, including two t-shirts, a hat or a Reveille cup.

You can also support us by participating in our giveback day on Monday, April 3, at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers on Highland Road or on West Lee Drive and mentioning The Reveille with your purchase. You can do the same on Wednesday, April 5, at Andy’s Frozen Custard on West Lee Drive.

Josh Archote is the editor-in-chief of the Reveille and a 22-year-old journalism senior from Independence, Louisiana.

Tipping culture strains service workers and customers

which said better reflected the work she did.

Have you ever gone to a restaurant, ordered your food and then been stared down by the waiter for a tip? That looming guilt you feel is a capitalism cocktail-garnished with societal pressure.

Tipping is usually the most unnecessarily stressful part of the dining experience; as soon as the bill hits the table, you’ve got to start doing math and mental gymnastics to calculate the appropriate tip amount.

Currently, service workers make between $2.13 and $5.12 in most states, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. Restaurants use tipping to accommodate their wages, but that’s not enough.

“What most people don’t realize is that servers have to share tips with cleaning staff, hosts, and kitchen staff,” said nutrition freshman and former waitress, Adan Hyde.

Hyde said she was paid $4.16 an hour as a waitress at Zea Rotisserie, not including what she made off tips. Dissatisfied with the pay for the work she did there, she moved to Walk-Ons where she was paid $10 an hour,

EDITORIAL BOARD

Josh Archote Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor Hannah Michel Hanks

Claire Sullivan News Editor

To counter dismal server wages, lots of big cities have began including a 20% mandatory service charge that’s counted as the tip. Any additional gratuity is optional. This system allows service workers to earn livable wages while still having the opportunity to make tips.

If more restaurants incorporated this, they’d have better staff retention and employees wouldn’t have to look over their shoulder, wondering if they can pay their bills on time.

“By including gratuity automatically, it allows the server to have more security in their work,” Hyde said.

The 20% service charge is comparable to the 10-15% sitdown charge that’s done in other countries, according to an article by Western Union. There, servers’ paychecks are enough to accommodate them.

Most American restaurants and bars only include taxes and fees instead of an added gratuity. This means servers are severely underpaid and customers are simultaneously pressuring to compensate the restaurant staffs’ wages.

In addition, most service workers are tipped based on service performance. It’s pure in-

sanity that one bad day could be the difference between paying rent on time or being behind on other bills. Customers who don’t adequately tip for whatever reason have the same effect.

Performance-based tipping creates a falsified environment where waiters put on an act to please their customers. If a customer feels disrespected, unattended to or has a mediocre experience, the server’s tip will reflect that.

While customers should show each other respect, most don’t know what the service industry is really like and why their server may be acting a certain way.

This has led to a sense of entitlement from the customers to the waitstaff and puts an immense amount of pressure on them. It can also create a competitive rift among members of the waitstaff, meanwhile the owners and employers get away with underpaying their staff.

The current tipping system also doesn’t take recessions and financial hardships into account. Sometimes customers can only afford the food and not the service. Not tipping is socially frowned upon unless you’re ordering takeout, so a lot of customers use this method not only for convenience, but to avoid tip -

ping as well.

Some people believe if you can’t tip, then you shouldn’t go out, but this isn’t fair. People should be able to enjoy themselves at a restaurant or club without worrying about the social pressure to put money in someone else’s pockets.

Customers should not be responsible for the wages of service workers. If employers compensate their employees appropriately, we could do away with the tipping system altogether.

Jemiah Clemons is a 19-year-old kinesiology freshman from Miami, Florida.

Editorial Policies and Procedures Quote of the Week

Deputy News Editor Gabby Jimenez

John Buzbee Opinion Editor

The Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, The Reveille or the university. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to editor@lsu.edu or delivered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for verification purposes, which will not be printed. The Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration while preserving the original intent. The Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Reveille’s editor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

Kim Mulkey

LSU women’s basketball head coach 1962 — present

“And talking about national championships—it doesn’t happen overnight.”

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

The Reveille logo adorns the newsroom wall on January 9 on LSU’s campus.

GRAPHIC BY BLAINE SWANZY