Flau'Jae Johnson to sit out SEC tournament with right shin inflammation

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Kim Mulkey said junior guard Flau’Jae Johnson will not play in next week’s SEC tournament because of inflammation in her right shin.

Johnson, a first team All-Southeastern Conference selection for No. 7 LSU, was held out of Sunday’s regular-season finale that Ole Miss won 85-77.

“I sat Flau’jae,” Mulkey said. “The doctor didn’t tell her she had to sit. The trainer didn’t tell her she had to sit.”

LSU (27-4) has a double bye and is the third-seed in this week’s SEC tournament which begins Wednesday in Greenville, S.C.

Mulkey said the additional rest should allow Johnson, the team’s leading scorer at 18.9 points, to get closer to 100% in time for the NCAA Tournament which begins March 19.

“I feel like no matter what happens there, we’ve earned the right to host here,” Mulkey said. “Whether we’re a two seed, three seed or four seed, the most important thing is to get her healthy before the NCAA tournament begins. Rest is the best thing for it. I have a lot of confidence that she’ll be ready to go.”

Mulkey said the timeline for Johnson’s injury began when LSU visited Texas on Feb. 18 and lost a 65-58 matchup. She remained a part of the team’s starting lineup and didn’t play fewer than 31 minutes over the last four games, including an 88-85 overtime loss at Alabama last Thursday in which she was 2 of 12 from the field and scored a season-low six points.

“I don’t feel like anything we do in the conference tournament, even if we lost both games, will affect us hosting here,” Mulkey said. “We have a great body of work and Flau’jae will be back.”

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