Everything we know about the bench-clearing LSU-South Carolina skirmish

LSU’s rollercoaster season continues as their on-court melee with South Carolina adds another twist to their storyline.

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that LSU’s season has been anything but smooth. The team started the season with Angel Reese’s sudden benching and Kim Mulkey sidestepping questions about Reese’s absence. Everything was seemingly fine when Reese returned after a break from basketball to take care of her mental health break, but then Kateri Poole’s mysterious disappearance from the team put LSU back in the spotlight. Add in some heartbreaking losses - including one in January to South Carolina - and LSU likely felt like they’d have to be scrappy down the stretch to get back to a national championship.

Enter Sunday’s SEC championship showdown with South Carolina. Things were tense, but it was grab-your-popcorn-TV until a fourth-quarter squabble changed things. It begs the question: What happened? How did we get here? Why are things so tense between LSU and South Carolina?

Here’s everything we know about the LSU-South Carolina on-court melee: