Has Kim Mulkey found the right way to utilize Hailey Van Lith?

Back in April, mere weeks after Kim Mulkey and company brought home the programs first national championship, they made a move that would change the women's college basketball landscape for 2024.

Fresh off their national championship run, the LSU Tigers would bring in the No. 1 transfer class, a class that included Louisville transfer Hailey Van Lith.

Van Lith was one of the hottest names on the market this offseason after she shockingly decided to leave Louisville, the place where she'd spent her first three years of college.

During her time with the Cardinals, Van Lith was one of the best scorers in women's basketball. She averaged 19.7 points per game in her junior season at Louisville and carried the Cardinals to the Elite Eight behind 26, 21, 21 and 27 point performances in the tournament. They'd fall to the eventual runner-up Iowa Hawkeyes, just one game away from earning a trip to the Final Four in Dallas.

Heading into her senior season, Van Lith wanted to go to a place that offered her the chance to win a national championship and a place where she could learn to play point guard. After seeing what Kim Mulkey and then-LSU point guard Alexis Morris did in their National Championship run, she decided to make Baton Rouge her next home.

Fast forward a few months and Van Lith's transition to point guard hasn't been as seamless as many thought. She's had her fair share of struggles as both a playmaker and as a scorer. She's averaging 11.8 points per game, the second lowest mark of her career, while shooting a career-low 41% from the field and 4.2 assists to 2.8 turnovers per game.

Now, that assist to turnover ratio doesn't seem all that bad, but since the start of SEC play, she's turning the ball over one time for every 1.3 assists and has had some issues bringing the ball up against pressure.

Van Lith acknowledged her struggles, saying she hasn't been playing like herself recently:

"I haven't been completely myself. I've had moments. I guess what I'm trying to say is I've been inconsistent. I've had games where I was myself, then the next game I don't play like myself. That's on me, that's not on anyone besides me. It's my job to bring it every game and I've accepted that responsibility."

Hailey Van Lith

During Sunday's game in which the Tigers scored 106 points against Florida, a program record for most points against an SEC opponent, Hailey Van Lith most certainly played like herself.

In the game, Van Lith scored 21 points, her season-high, while shooting 6-for-11 from the field and getting to the free throw line 10 times. She was aggressive as a scorer and looked like prime Louisville Van Lith.

One reason she was able to play like her former self was because of Last-Tear Poa. The junior point guard played 27 minutes, her highest total of SEC play this season, and allowed Van Lith to move over to the shooting guard spot, the position she played at Louisville.

Van Lith still carried some point guard duties, especially in transition when she got the defensive rebound, but for the most part, it was Poa bringing the ball up and running the offense.

Van Lith talked about having Poa on the floor more and how it helped her game:

"We've wanted Poa to get in the game a little bit more. She came with a good mindset today, she played hard, she played defense, she was Poa. That allows me to move to the two, but also, when we were in together sometimes I was bringing the ball up, and I think if we can continue to build on that, it can make us really dangerous because we can play really fast. It's hard to guard us in transition, so I think if we can continue to use that to our advantage, it's going to help us."

Hailey Van Lith

After 23 games, it feels like Kim Mulkey and LSU have found the right way to utilize Hailey Van Lith's talents. She came to LSU to learn how to play point guard, but in all honesty, she's a much better shooting guard who can bring the ball up in transition.

Now, I don't see Poa getting the start over Mikaylah Williams, so I'd expect Van Lith to start at point guard most games, but don't be surprised if we see Last-Tear Poa in the game more often from here on out.

If they continue to use Van Lith the way they did on Sunday, she'll become even more of a weapon for this Tigers team.

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