LSU's 75-67 win over Ole Miss in the semifinals of the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament took a scary turn in the middle of the fourth quarter when Tigers guard Last-Tear Poa was taken off the court on a stretcher after hitting the back of her head on the court while trying to take a charge.
Poa was diagnosed with a concussion, and the team announced it expected her to be released from a local hospital. Tigers coach Kim Mulkey told reporters after the game that Poa's CT scan came back clean and she has movement in her extremities.
"She was just a little bit unresponsive, mostly, is how I would describe it," Mulkey said. "She could squeeze your hand lightly. She could tell you she could feel her legs, but she couldn't really articulate good enough for you not to be afraid."
With just under six minutes to play, Zakiya Stephenson forced a turnover, which started a fastbreak for the Rebels. Madison Scott then took the ball the length of the floor and tried to get all the way to the rim, but had her path cut off by Poa. The two collided and Poa went crashing to the floor. She was called for a blocking foul and immediately grabbed her head.
After being attended to by the Tigers' medical staff, Poa tried to make it off the floor with assistance. She was unable to do so, however, and was brought back to the ground instead, where she was stabilized and put onto a stretcher. The LSU players were noticeably shaken as Poa was being taken off the floor.
"That was the hardest last five minutes of a game I've ever played, emotionally, physically, mentally," Angel Reese said.
Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, meanwhile, called for a rule change on block-charge plays.
"I do think that something has to be done with this whole block-charge thing," McPhee-McCuin said during her postgame press conference. "It was unfortunate to see Last-Tear go down. There needs to be a rule and then people won't slide under people. I've seen it happen twice. If we're trying to protect players, then why don't we make a rule?
"Because that was dangerous. She was trying to make a play, because right now the rule says no matter where you are on the floor, attempt to get up under someone and take a charge. And then she had to go out on a stretcher. So something has to be done with that rule. It's simple. If we're trying to protect players, let's protect players. That's not the officials' fault, it's the rule that's wrong."
A junior college star at Northwest Florida State College, Poa transferred to LSU in 2022 and was a member of the national championship team last season. Primarily known for her work on the defensive end, Poa has started 10 of the team's 32 games this season and is averaging five points, 1.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 20.7 minutes a game.
Thanks to its win over Ole Miss, LSU has advanced to the SEC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2012. The Tigers, who will face undefeated and top-ranked South Carolina on Sunday, have only won the event twice, and most recently did so in 2003.
