Michael Bacigalupi
BATON ROUGE, La. – In a record-setting outing for the seventh-ranked LSU women’s basketball team, junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley earned her first career double-double and paced the Tigers to a 108-55 victory over the Missouri Tigers with 22 points Sunday afternoon inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
With the victory, LSU earned its second-straight win, improving its record to 24-4 overall and 10-4 in the Southeastern Conference. With the loss, Missouri dropped to 16-13 on the season and 4-10 in league play.
LSU returns to action on Thursday for Senior Day against the Tennessee Volunteers at the Maravich Center. The contest is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. CT with Ryan Ruocco (pxp) and Rebecca Lobo (analyst) calling the action on ESPN. The game is available to listen to on the LSU Sports Radio Network with Patrick Wright and Shaeeta Williams on the call.
With Fulwiley’s 22 points and second-straight 20-point performance, she also grabbed 11 rebounds and collected her first career double-double in doing so. She also tallied four assists, two steals, and three blocks. Freshman Zakiyah Johnson had a dominant day alongside Fulwiley, recording 17 points and a career high 14 rebounds
Fulwiley’s offensive outing was impressive going 7-of-11 from the field, 6-of-9 from behind the arc and 2-2 from the charity stripe. The six three-pointers was a career high for the first-year LSU player. In addition to Fulwiley’s six treys, LSU drained six more on the afternoon for 12 total, which was the second most in program history (13 vs. Missouri on 1/16/2014).
LSU’s record-setting day wasn’t over as the Tigers brought down 72 boards, marking the most by an LSU team in the NCAA women’s basketball championship area. The home team outrebounded the visitors by 47 (72-25).
“With a lot of guards? That’s crazy,” Coach Kim Mulkey said. “We had not really practiced or prepared to play that lineup. What changed was the (availability) reports that were given out and No. 10 for Missouri was out. So, Bob (Starkey) and I are, like, we got a problem here. I said, go ahead with the lineup we had planned to start, and then we’ll just adjust and move Mikaylah (Williams) inside and with ZaKiyah (Johnson), and just play small. And it worked, and it was entertaining. Everybody wanted to get a piece of that rebound and take off, and I think consequently, we scored a lot of points. And that was a fun game to watch, but it wasn’t something we prepared for because we didn’t know until before game time that that young lady was not playing.”
Joining Fulwiley and ZaKiyah in double figure scoring were senior Flau’jae Johnson (16), sophomore Kate Koval (13), junior Mikaylah Williams (12), freshman Bella Hines (11) and sophomore Jada Richard (10). The seven players in double figures signaled the first game since LSU’s win over Washington State on November 29.
At the first media timeout, LSU and Missouri were tied at nine following an opening stretch that saw the visiting Tigers take a 7-2 early lead. Through the first six minutes, the host Tigers were able to return the favor, tying the game with 4:10 left in the quarter. LSU closed the quarter on a 14-5 scoring run to give the home squad a 23-14 lead after one quarter.
In the early going of the second quarter, LSU outscored Missouri, 6-1, with two treys from junior MiLaysia Fulwiley and Richard forcing the visiting Tigers to take a timeout with 7:57 left in the first half. LSU put the gas pedal down throughout the remainder of the half, LSU went on a 24-7 scoring run to hold the 32-point advantage going into the locker room.
LSU’s 54 first-half points was its largest output this season in SEC play for the first half. LSU’s previous high in SEC games for first-half scoring was 49 against Alabama on February 1. The Johnson duo of Flau’jae and ZaKiyah led LSU in scoring 11 points each at the break. Three Tigers had eight points at halftime including Williams, Richard and Fulwiley.
LSU continued its electric scoring in the third quarter and by the media timeout, it had extended the substantial lead to 39. Leading 72-33 out of the timeout, the home Tigers finished the period on a 13-4 run, taking an 85-37 lead into the fourth. LSU outscored Missouri 23-18 in the fourth quarter resulting in the 108-55 SEC victory.
**LSU PRESS RELEASE**
