Hardly anyone would argue that Albany 2 is the most competitive region in the women’s division of the March Madness.

The popularly termed “murderer’s route” has both the teams from last year’s national championship game among other heavyweights.

As Selection Sunday brings Iowa, UCLA, and defending champions LSU ranking as the top three teams, head coach Kim Mulkey expressed her reactions to the difficulties in the region.

Soon after the 2024 NCAA Women’s tournament bracket was released, Mulkey interacted with the media. On being asked about her thoughts on the draw, she said, “I’d have to study it a little more when I get home tonight.

Initially, I just thought ‘Ooo this is a tough, tough region.’ I don’t care about the seating. You just want a first and second-round game at home. I’m thinking off the top of my head what I saw. Saw a lot of matchups again with people you’ve already played. Not just in our region, but in other regions.”

Moments later, LSU’s boss was asked how good her team was playing at the moment.

To this, she replied, “Did you see the championship game?

You can probably answer that for yourself. That doesn’t mean the next game will be that good. We’ve been off for a week or so. But, we are in the process of getting healthy. Angel’s ankle 100%.

Mikayla is back to being healthy. Just to get a little more shape. And then Poa. It’s that time of the year where you want to be playing your best basketball.”

With a fully fit squad, LSU will fancy their chances against anyone. But it’s still easier said than done, especially considering their path to NCAA glory.

Kim Mulkey and the Lady Tigers will have their work cut out

The Lady Tigers will begin their campaign against the Rice Owls in their first round. A desired result will get them either 6-seed Louisville Cardinals or Middle Tennessee in their next game.

Following this, the road gets tougher for the defending champs as teams like UCLA and Iowa will be waiting for them.

While the journey may be hard, the current NCAA champions have a lot of toughness in their locker room. Further, the team knows a thing or two about how to get past challenging paths as they have done in their previous campaign.

An exciting next few days await us as we’ll get to witness some supreme brand of basketball.