LSU women’s basketball team was on the cusp of a trip to the NCAA’s Elite Eight, clinging to a one-point lead over Duke in a back-and-forth third round NCAA tournament classic.
The Lady Tigers had rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes of play behind Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley, grabbing an 85-84 lead on Williams’ three-point play with 6.5 seconds to play.
Duke, on an inbounds play under its own goal, got Ashlon Williams free on a screen through the lane to the sideline. She pump-faked LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson, stepped back and attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The ball twice went around the rim before falling through to eliminate LSU, 87-85.
Without Johnson, an effervescent four-year starter at guard, putting the pieces back for another such run was going to be difficult, something sixth-year head coach Kim Mulkey found out with the unexpected losses of two starters.
The Naismith Hall of Fame coach has learned in this day in age of college sports how to build a roster and that’s through a combination of high school recruiting, and the NCAA Transfer Portal, where she signed three players to join one of the nation’s top returning players in Williams and Fulwiley.
“It’s different now, it used to be a process,” Mulkey said in a recent Zoom call with reporters. “You would bring freshmen in and by the time they’re seniors, you’d watch them improve and grow. You don’t see that anymore.
“You go through the fall, and you really don’t know who you have other than what the returning players have given you in previous years,” Mulkey said. “Part of that is exciting, part of that is scary, but at the same time you’ve got to go coach.”
LSU (29-6, 12-4 in SEC last season) will represent a melding old and new.
Sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson and Grace Knox combined for 40 starts a year ago and are expected to have bigger roles when the Lady Tigers begin another season with high expectations.
LSU plays its two exhibition games in the next two weeks, hosting UNT Dallas on Oct. 22 and Loyola (New Orleans) on Oct. 29 with the season opener set for Nov. 2 against Southeastern Louisiana.
“You know my career and the feeling of having unfinished business will always be there,” said Williams, a two-two All-SEC first-team selection. “I’m excited going into my senior year. We have a lot of new players, a lot of new players, a lot of young players, but it’s a lot of great energy. Everybody’s ready to learn. Everybody’s bought in. Everybody works extremely hard.”
Veteran players lead way
LSU hosts nine non-conference games and will face powers North Carolina (Dec. 2) and UConn (Dec. 26) away from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Lady Tigers begin SEC play at Auburn on Dec. 31.
Williams has averaged 15.4 points over her career, scoring 1,630 points in 106 games (105 starts), shooting 47.9% (607 of 1,268) from the field and 39.3% (171 of 435) from 3-point range. She scored 14.2 points on 42% shooting from the 3-point range and averaged 5.3 rebounds last season.
Fulwiley has only started three times in her 108-game career at both South Carolina and LSU. She earned the SEC’s Sixth Woman of the Year for the second time in her career, averaging a team-best 14.6 points and leading the team with 99 steals, and has scored 1,415 points with 222 steals in her career.
Williams and Fulwiley, both of whom have earned Associated Press honorable mention status during their careers, combined this summer to help bring the United States a gold medal in the 2026 FIBA 3X3 Women’s World Championship in Warsaw, Poland.
It was Williams who lifted the U.S. to victory over Australia with a jumper with under a minute to play.
“Playing 3-on-3 with Lay (Fulwiley) just kind of built our chemistry up even more now,” Williams said. “We know where each other’s going to be. We know what kind of pass each other’s going to make and it just builds up our chemistry even more.”
Williams and Fulwiley were LSU’s two representatives on the All-SEC preseason team, Williams landing on the first second, Fulwiley on the second squad.
The Lady Tigers were selected to finish third in the media that cover the league with South Carolina and Texas rated No. 1 and No. 2. Vanderbilt was fourth and Kentucky fifth.
“What I’ve enjoyed since we’ve started practice, we work hard,” said Mulkey, 151-26 at LSU and 783-130 overall. “We’ve always had teams that work hard, but there’s something about this bunch that is just extremely cohesive. It’s a little bit of older players. All of the perimeter (players) have college experience. Then you mix in the post players and you’ve got new ones.”
Infusion of new faces
Iowa State senior transfer Jada Williams is expected to maintain her position at point guard and take over for Jada Richard, who transferred to Ole Miss.
Jada Williams was a first-team All-Big 12 Conference performer last season with 15. 3 points, 7.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds. She scored 1,195 points with 121 3-pointers, 413 assists and 116 steals at Iowa State.
“She’s s verbal leader, she talks,” Mulkey said. “She plays with a lot of energy. The young lady can score the basketball as well. She has a true point guard mentality. She’s not going to be a game manager where she never shoots.”
The 6-foot-3 Knox averaged 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in her first season, starting in 17 of 35 games. She made 62.1% of her shots and will be part of LSU’s front line with the 6-foot Johnson who is expected to help inside after posting averages of 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in her first season.
“She’s playing unbelievable right now,” Mulkey said of Knox. “She’s more confident because she’s more knowledgeable on the college game and how we want things done.”
LSU’s frontcourt will get a boost when 6-3 transfer Noa Morro of Spain is recovered from a preseason stress fracture. Sophomore forward Meghan Yarnevich returns after seeing action in 20 games with 2.0 points and 1.6 rebounds, and 6-5 forward Anna Minaeva of Moscow, Russia will play a larger role than maybe first expected with the departure of junior center Kate Koval to Baylor.
“She’s 17 years old and she’s going to have to play against older players,” Mulkey said of Minaeva. “She’s going to get her lunch handed to her and the physicality. I don’t know if she even lifted a weight until she got over here. If you separate the body from the face, the body looks older, and then you look at her sweet face and you see a 17-year-old. That’s a young lady that’s going to be special by the time she finishes college.”
Three other newcomers project to have varying roles that could impact the team.
Florida senior transfer Laila Reynolds, a 6-foot guard, averaged 12.1 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Gators. She’s a former teammate of Mikaylah Williams, Fulwiley and Jada Williams in the 2022 McDonald’s All-America game.
Tennessee Tech junior guard Chloe Larry, a high school teammate of Mikaylah Williams at Parkway in Bossier City, was a second team All-Ohio Valley Conference performer last season and the league’s top freshman two years ago. She averaged 11.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
Another of the two freshmen for the Lady Tigers is 6-2 guard Lola Lampley of Indianapolis, Indiana. The nation’s No. 17 prospect according to On3/Rivals, Lampley has a gold-medal background with USA Basketball (U17 FIBA World Cup in 2024), and averaged 12 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists during her senior year.
“It’s going to be challenging in some ways, and in some ways, it’s going to be a team that probably has a few ups and downs,” Mulkey said. “At the end of the day their mindset is very good. I have not gone to practice yet where I’ve left upset.”
