LSU women bet Kailyn Gilbert could improve her defense. Here's how it's paid off so far.

LSU guard Kailyn Gilbert (16) dribbles the ball down court while guarded by Charleston Southern guard Taylor Caldwell (13) during the LSU vs. Charleston Southern women’s basketball game at Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The LSU women’s basketball team is counting on Kailyn Gilbert to improve how she plays on the defensive end of the floor.

Only then can coach Kim Mulkey fully trust the transfer guard with a role inside the rotation she’ll use once Southeastern Conference play begins. It’s early. But Gilbert has been arguably the No.



7 Tigers’ most active defender. Through three games, the junior guard has tallied a team-high 11 steals. That’s already half as many as Gilbert recorded in her freshman season at Arizona, and it’s over a third as many as she notched in her sophomore year, a season in which she played only 23 games.

Just 24 Division I players have more steals than Gilbert so far this year. “She's getting better on the defensive end,” Mulkey said. “She still gambles.

She still is not what I call disciplined for the entire shot clock, but it matters to her, and she really, really works at it. She wants to be better, and she has improved tremendously since she's been here on the defensive end.” Gilbert has tallied multiple steals in each game this season.

She’ll look to continue that streak at 7 p.m. Friday, when LSU (3-0) hosts Murray State.

Through three games, LSU is allowing its opponents to score only 41.3 points per game and shoot just 23% from the field. No Division I team has a larger average margin of victory so far this season than the Tigers, who defeated their first three opponents by a combined 183 points.

LSU is also blocking shots at one of the 15 best rates in the country, per Her Hoop Stats, and recording steals at one of the 50 best rates in the nation. Gilbert has a hand in that early defensive success. The junior has seen 23 minutes of action per game off the LSU bench.

In that role, she’s scoring 12.0 points and dishing out a team-high 4.7 assists per contest while shooting 50% from the field.

On Tuesday against Charleston Southern , Gilbert flirted with a triple double, tallying 14 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals in a 73-point Tigers win. Flau’jae Johnson is also the only LSU guard with a better rebounding average than the 5-foot-8 Gilbert, who’s pulling down 6.0 boards per game.

Those numbers signal that the Arizona transfer is off to a promising start. So far, the defensive activity she’s provided off the bench has helped LSU overcome the loss of Mississippi State transfer guard Mjracle Sheppard , a 5-10 sophomore who suffered a stress reaction injury before the Tigers’ season opener. Mulkey said Oct.

30 that LSU expected Sheppard to miss a “ couple weeks ” of games. The Tigers still have three nonconference home games to play before they travel down to The Bahamas to play in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo championship. “(Gilbert) was blessed with speed and quickness,” Mulkey said after LSU beat Northwestern State, “so she has the lateral speed to get to loose balls.

But she has never had, in my opinion, to play hard, hard, hard — as hard as you can play for a long period of time. “And now it's kind of ringing for her. She's figuring it out.

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