BATON ROUGE — LSU women's basketball season opener against Eastern Kentucky was all about return.
Sure, the return of the team to the court from the offseason, but moreso the return of key players like sophomore Mikaylah Williams, who sat out LSU's two preseason exhibitions with an ankle sprain, and junior forward Sa'Myah Smith's recovery from the ACL tear that ended her season early in 2023-24 had everyone inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and out.
As LSU coach Kim Mulkey and her program ushered in the new era without star Angel Reese and welcoming a quartet of new faces, the No. 7 Tigers rolled in their debut together 95-44 over the Colonels on Monday night.
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LSU fans had not seen Williams play in a game since last season's Elite Eight exit from the NCAA tournament.
Williams didn't look slowed at all and, in fact, how she played on both ends of the floor was the most encouraging part of LSU's win over EKU. The Bossier City native and former No. 2 overall recruit was able to create offense for herself off great individual defensive plays she made.
She scored 16 points but better to see than that was her attacking the glass to grab four rebounds. Williams played the third-most minutes on the team and didn't turn the ball over.
Early in the fourth quarter, LSU star Flau'jae Johnson was called for a charge, which was her fourth personal foul of the game.
Mulkey was not happy about the call as she, as well as the entire LSU bench, believed EKU guard Kaitlyn Costner was moving when Johnson made contact with her she was making her way to the basket.
LSU's coach one garnered one technical foul all of last season and she's got one, one game into the 2024-25 season.
Johnson was LSU's leading scorer with 23 points and the charge call forced her to the bench late in the game.
Early in the second quarter, EKU guard Alice Recanati rebounded a Sa'Myah Smith miss, turned and made her way up court. No one stepped in front of her to stop the ball, rather Shayeann Day-Wilson running alongside her. Recanati easily went coast-to-coast for the layup.
The game was never in question but one aspect of LSU's beatdown of the Colonels was the lack of execution and commitment, at times, to transition defense.
EKU scored a few baskets off LSU misses that were uncontested or not properly defended. Against better competition, those lapses could be costly.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU women's basketball rolls Eastern Kentucky behind Flau'jae Johnson
