Once coach Kim Mulkey and her staff landed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, then lost several veterans to the transfer portal, they knew they’d have to rely on freshmen.

What the LSU women’s basketball program didn’t know, however, was just how much it could trust each of those five newcomers in the first seasons of their collegiate careers. Mulkey could evaluate them in their high school and AAU matchups, but figuring out how their games would translate to the next level is a trickier proposition.

“What you never know is work ethic,” Mulkey said. “You never know heart.”

Now — two games into her fifth season at LSU — Mulkey’s starting to find answers.

In its first two games, the No. 5 Tigers (2-0) beat up on a pair of overmatched teams from the Southland Conference. LSU defeate

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