LSU women’s basketball wins record-setting opener

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LSU women’s basketball wins record-setting opener

Ben Schluter · SB Nation

Tue, November 3, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC ·

3 min read

How it happened

LSU was on their game from jump. The Tigers scored the first 18 points of the game and never looked back. Despite early shooting woes from Milaysia Fulwiley, LSU found points from Mikaylah Williams and from Zakiyah Johnson. The Tigers' relentless defense-into-offense approach powered them to a 69-9 halftime lead. The second half was more of the same with great shooting, but the Lions managed to get some semblance of offense going.

Team stats

It's time to gawk at the stats. LSU shot 58% (48/86) from the floor to SLU's 28% (10/36). From beyond the arc, LSU was a clean 50% (10/20) while Southeastern was 21% (4/19). From the free throw line, LSU shot 74% (23/31) to Southeastern Louisiana's 55% (11/20). The Tigers had 11 turnovers which turned into 13 Lion points while the Lions had 38 turnovers that turned into 48 Tiger points. LSU out-rebounded their foe 54-19 overall, 23-13 on the offensive boards and 31-6 on the defensive boards. LSU dominated second-chance points 45-3 and paint points 72-12. LSU had 24 steals, tied for the sixth most in a game in program history, while SELA had five.

Individual stats

First, for Southeastern Louisiana. Natalie Thuff led the team in points with 12. Eryn McKinzie and Micah Cooper led the team in assists with two. The leader for rebounds was team. That is not a misprint, the Lions had six team rebounds which doubled the total of individual leader Natalie Huff.

For LSU, Zakiyah Johnson led the points with 33, LSU's first 30-point outburst in over a season, Jada Williams led the assists with eight despite only playing five minutes, and Johnson also led the team in boards with 13. Lola Lampley added a double-double of her own with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Running down the list of scorers, Milaysia Fulwiley had 20 points (and six steals), Mikaylah Williams had 19, Anna Minaeva had 14, Laila Reynolds had 8, Jada Williams had five and Chloe Larry had 2.

Mikaylah Williams kept moving up in the LSU record books. With her five made threes tonight, she passed Pokey Chatman to move into fourth in LSU history in made threes. She needs fourteen more to move into third place. Note that she has no shot at the program record of 337 held by Cornelia Gayden.

Post-game notes

After the game, head coach Kim Mulkey noted that Jada Williams' limited play time came because of an awkward collision with a Southeastern player. She also noted the Noa Morrow, the post player from Spain, is ahead of schedule on her recovery and has been practicing with the team. This would be a huge win for LSU. It's also worth noting that Meghan Yarnevich is still recovering from injuries she suffered in a car crash, but she was in the building for this game unlike the second exhibition game.

LSU's next game will be a home game, the second of seven in a row for the squad. They'll face Texas Southern, a team who lost to Tulane 90-38 Monday afternoon, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. That game will be streamed on SECN+.