The plan for Kate Koval was clear. Once she transferred from Notre Dame to the LSU women’s basketball team , she’d help the Tigers replace what they had lost in the offseason. Rebounding. Rim protection. Interior scoring.

It was obvious that Koval, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, had the size and skill to address those needs. She just needed to prove she could do so in the large role she was expected to play for coach Kim Mulkey at LSU — one of the teams the center from Ukraine considered joining when she was one of the five best recruits in her high school class.

Koval had potential. But after she helped turn the tide of the No. 5 Tigers’ (10-0) win over Duke , then turned in a career-best scoring night Sunday against UNO , it looks like she’s starting to live up to it.

“(Koval’s) a bi

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