Remember when Pokey Chatman gave Kim Mulkey the ol dead fish handshake?

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Obviously, that wasn't the case Monday when LSU hosted Baylor in a nationally televised game between two of the top 10 programs in the nation, not to mention a rematch of a 2005 Final Four game. After the final whistle, Lady Bears coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson accused LSU's Pokey Chatman of saying "something very unprofessional before the game." The incident carried over to the coaches' postgame handshake; Chatman eventually ripped her hand out of Mulkey-Robertson's grip and started walking away, even as the Baylor coach kept talking.

In the news conference after the game, neither coach would divulge the remarks shared between them, although Mulkey-Robertson -- whose Lady Bears beat what was largely considered a better LSU team in April en route to the 2005 NCAA title -- expressed her displeasure at Chatman's pregame comments.

"You don't say things like that. She hasn't earned the right to say something like that to me" because "she hasn't been coaching long enough," Mulkey-Robertson said.

According to several sources who were at the game but wish to remain anonymous, the conversation turned sour from the get-go.

"I don't really want to do this," Chatman reportedly said as the two coaches began shaking hands, "but I'm gonna do this because the TV cameras want us to. I don't like you, and I'm sure you don't like me."

"Is this over the Hightower thing?" Mulkey-Robertson responded, referring to Allison Hightower, a top-10 recruit and 5-foot-10 guard out of Arlington, Texas, who originally orally committed to Baylor but then signed a letter of intent to play for LSU in November.

"No, it's over a lot of things," Chatman said before turning to walk back to her bench.

During a phone interview Friday, however, Chatman disputed that account.

"You've been given an inaccurate account of what transpired," said Chatman, but she declined to offer more details.

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