LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey told reporters Friday that she would be open to moving starting point guard Hailey Van Lith to the off-ball guard position, but was ultimately noncommittal on doing anything definitive.

The team's guard play, mainly on the defensive end, has taken some flack for much of the season, but reached a new plateau following No. 9 LSU's loss to Mississippi State, 77-73, Monday night.

"We can't seem to defensively get stops with this team when they matter. That's how we lost the South Carolina game," Mulkey said after the loss at MSU on Monday. "You have to make stops at this level. And we don't seem to be doing it. We don't have the fleet-of-foot guards out there that can make up for things when they get beat off the dribble. So we got to do a better job of helping each other out."

Van Lith transferred to the Tigers from Louisville, where she played off the ball for four seasons for Jeff Walz's Cardinals teams. Prior to the start of the season, Van Lith wanted to come to LSU to learn the point guard position under Mulkey, noting it was something she needed to show to advance to the pro level.

There's been issues with turnovers this season as the Tigers rank 144th in the country in turnovers per game at 15.5 and the offense, at times, has been stagnant and looked off-kilter.

Mulkey knows Van Lith's natural position is the two-guard, but until she has confidence in junior guard Last-Tear Poa to effectively run the offense. Van Lith is the team's best option at point.

But the LSU coach remains open to a possible switch.

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"If Poa gets untracked, Hailey's natural position is the off guard. If Poa gets untracked and can do that, then absolutely," Mulkey said Friday. "Then that would give me three or four rotations on the wing. Certainly, absolutely."

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Kim Mulkey open to Hailey Van Lith moving spots for LSU women's basketball