LSU Athletics
BATON ROUGE, La. – For the fourth-straight season, the No. 2 seed LSU women’s basketball program is heading to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating the No. 7 seed Texas Tech Lady Red Raiders, 101-47, in the second round at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, LSU improved to 29-5 on the season and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Sacramento 2 regional. The Tigers will take on Duke for the second time this season once things tip off in the Golden 1 Center. Tip times for LSU’s next matchup will be announced following the conclusion of the second-round games. With the loss, Texas Tech dropped to 26-8 on the season and its season came to a close.
Coach Kim Mulkey’s record in NCAA Tournament games at home improved to 26-2, while LSU’s home record in the NCAA Tournament moved to 27-4. Mulkey has led LSU to five straight seasons as a host site, which is the most in succession for the program. With Mulkey at the helm in national tournament games at home, LSU is 9-1.
LSU had their 16th 100-point game this season, establishing a D-I record previously held by Long Beach State with 15 games (1986-87).
LSU will play in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time. This will mark the 32nd Sweet 16 for Mulkey since becoming an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech. For LSU, the victory signals its fourth-straight Sweet 16, all under Mulkey.
LSU’s dynamic duo of senior Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams were the leaders for LSU in its 54-point victory. Johnson and Williams combined to score 48 points with 24 each. Johnson had four rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Williams tallied seven rebounds, four assists, and one steal. The guards combined to go 18-of-28 from the field, 4-of-9 from behind the arc and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe.
Johnson, who has started in 140 games since stepping campus, became the winningest player at home in LSU Basketball history, men’s or women’s with 69 wins to four losses. She now sits tied for first in games started at LSU with current assistant coach Seimone Augustus. For the final time on Sunday, she walked off the PMAC floor.
“Yeah, I lost it,” Johnson said. “I knew I was going to lose it, but I was holding strong. Then my teammates came and hugged me and it was like a roar I heard in that PMAC and it was like wow. And I gave everything I had and just let everything out. It was the most beautiful thing that I’ve been a part of. Something I’m going to remember forever. Just so thankful for the fans. Thankful to Coach Mulkey. The whole program. It’s just been unimaginable.”
Two LSU post players in senior Amiya Joyner and sophomore Kate Koval both finished with a double-double. Joyner had 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Koval scored 10 points and brought down 10 rebounds.
Sophomore Jada Richard joined the four other Tigers in double digits with 10 points.
Through the first three minutes of the first quarter, LSU played stellar offense and defense, starting out with an 8-0 scoring run. Texas Tech head coach Krista Gerlich decided to use her first timeout of the game with 7:04 left in the period. By the quarter’s official timeout, TTU battled back to make it a 10-6 deficit with two three-pointers.
The Tigers led the Lady Red Raiders 19-14 at the end of the first.
In the second quarter, LSU held Texas Tech scoreless for the opening 5:40 before the Lady Raiders knocked down a three. Prior to that, LSU scored the first 12 points of the period and led by 17 with 3:45 remaining in the half. At the close of the first half, the Tigers were up on the opponent, 43-25.
Williams and Johnson paced the Tigers’ offense in the first 20 minutes, putting up 14 and 12, respectively. Both players contributed more than 50 percent to the Tigers’ scoring combined in the first half. Williams recorded three rebounds, one assist and one steal, while Johnson tallied a single rebound.
LSU would outscore Texas Tech 33-7 in the third quarter with the Tigers kicking it off on a 17-5 run going into the period’s media timeout. LSU’s domination from start to finish continued in the fourth quarter as it closed out the 54-point win.
**LSU PRESS RELEASE**
