ZaKiyah Johnson Scores 33 as No. 9 LSU Opens With a Record 129-35 Rout of Southeastern Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. Southeastern Louisiana did not score a point for the first five and a half minutes of the season. By the time the Lions finally got on the board, on a Diana Szakolczi free throw with 4:29 left in the first quarter, No. 9 LSU already led 18-0, and the only real question left on Monday night, Nov. 2, was which part of the record book the Tigers would rewrite first.

The answer was most of it. LSU beat Southeastern Louisiana 129-35 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in its season opener. The 94-point margin is the largest in program history, the 69 first-half points are a program record for any half, and the 129 points are the third-most any LSU team has ever scored. Sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson led the way with career highs of 33 points and five steals to go with 13 rebounds, and six Tigers finished in double figures in front of 9,134 fans.

LSU moved to 1-0. Here is the box score (opens in a new tab) and LSU's recap (opens in a new tab).

Eighteen points before the first answer

The opening stretch set the tone for the night. LSU scored the first 18 points, and Johnson was right in the middle of it with seven points in a five-minute span, two of them on putbacks of her own team's misses. Jada Williams and Mikaylah Williams each knocked down a 3 early, and the Tigers' pressure turned nearly every Southeastern possession into a scramble.

LSU closed the quarter on a 19-3 run and led 37-4 after 10 minutes. That four-point first quarter was the product of a defense that simply never let Southeastern settle into a set.

The second quarter barely changed the picture. LSU allowed only one more 3 the rest of the half and finished the period with an 18-0 run over the final six minutes. Freshman Lola Lampley capped it with two free throws with 18.7 seconds left, and that made it 69-9 at the break. The previous LSU record for points in a half was 67, set against Georgia Southern in 2025.

Southeastern went 3 of 22 from the floor, 1 of 12 from 3 and 2 of 6 at the line in the first half. LSU had four separate first-half runs of 10 points or more, according to the Associated Press.

ZaKiyah Johnson's breakout line

Johnson's night was efficient in a way that is hard to do even against an overmatched opponent. She made 14 of 19 shots, including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc, and finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, five steals and a block in 28 minutes. Nine of her rebounds came on the offensive glass, a nightmare for a team trying to finish a defensive possession.

The 33 points were the most by an LSU player since Aneesah Morrow scored 30 against NC State in the Sweet 16 on March 28, 2025. Johnson also set career highs in field goals made and attempted, 3-pointers made and attempted, and steals, and the 13 boards gave her the fourth double-double of her career. She did not slow down after halftime, scoring 18 of her 33 in the second half.

That second-half push matters more than it might look on a 94-point night. The Tigers had nothing to prove after the break, and Johnson kept attacking the rim and the offensive glass anyway. That is the kind of motor that travels into league play.

The guards set the table

LSU's veteran backcourt did the rest. Senior MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 20 points on 8 of 18 shooting with four assists and a game-high six steals in 25 minutes, in what the AP noted was only her second career start in an LSU uniform. Fulwiley was the loosest shooter on the floor, taking eight 3s and making two, but her hands in the passing lanes were the bigger story.

Senior Mikaylah Williams was the sharpest shooter on the floor. She scored 19 points on 6 of 10 shooting, made 5 of 7 from deep, and added six assists, five rebounds and four steals. Jada Williams, another senior, took only four shots and scored five points, but she ran the offense with eight assists against one turnover in 28 minutes.

As a team, LSU assisted on 31 of its 48 field goals. When the ball moves like that and the opponent is turning it over on almost every other trip, the scoreboard does what it did on Monday.

The newcomers make noise

Two freshmen made their college debuts look easy. Anna Minaeva came off the bench and posted 14 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes, a double-double in her first collegiate game, with five of those boards on the offensive end. Lampley also scored 14 in 16 minutes, and she did it with a clean 6 of 6 night at the free throw line to go with 4 of 8 shooting from the floor.

Sophomore Grace Knox started and gave LSU 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks in 24 minutes. Laila Reynolds added eight points, seven rebounds and three assists off the bench, and Chloe Larry chipped in two points, five rebounds and four assists in 15 minutes.

Only nine Tigers played, with Noa Morro and Meghan Yarnevich not seeing the floor. Nobody logged more than 28 minutes, and the bench still accounted for 38 points.

The numbers that tell the story

The turnover column is where this game was won and then buried. Southeastern Louisiana committed 38 turnovers, and LSU turned them into 48 points. The Tigers finished with 24 steals as a team, and four different players had at least four.

LSU also owned the paint, 72-12, and the offensive glass, where its 31 offensive rebounds outnumbered the Lions' 19 total rebounds. The Tigers scored 29 fast-break points, shot 55.8 percent from the floor, made 10 of 20 from 3 and went 23 of 31 at the line. Their lead peaked at 97 points before settling at 94.

Southeastern's third quarter was its best stretch of the night, and it still lost that period 31-16. LSU then put up 29 more in the fourth. The Lions finished 10 of 36 from the floor, 27.8 percent, with 4 of 19 shooting from deep and 11 of 20 at the line. Natalie Huff led them with 12 points on 3 of 8 shooting and a perfect 4 of 4 at the stripe. Aliyah Collins scored eight but committed nine turnovers, and Szakolczi added six off the bench. Southeastern had five assists all night.

What it means for LSU

The previous record margin in program history was 89 points, a mark LSU had reached twice, against McNeese in 2023 and against this same Southeastern Louisiana program in a 115-26 win last season. Monday's game cleared it by five points, and it came in a season opener with a rotation that leaned on Johnson, Fulwiley and the two Williamses and still found 28 points from two freshmen.

It is fair to say an opener like this proves very little about March. It is also fair to say it showed exactly what LSU wants to be: a team that defends the ball for 94 feet, crashes the glass with everyone, and gets easy points in transition before an opponent can set its defense. A 31-assist night and a 72-point paint total say the offense was not running on one player's creativity, and that is a healthy sign this early.

The open question is the perimeter shooting beyond Mikaylah Williams. Fulwiley went 2 of 8 from 3, and the rest of the roster took only five 3s. Better opponents will pack the paint and dare LSU to shoot over the top.

The Tigers stay home for their next game, hosting Texas Southern on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network Plus. Southeastern Louisiana also plays Thursday, hosting Arkansas Monticello.

Sources: ESPN box score, LSU Athletics recap, Associated Press via Fox Sports.

Photo: LSU Athletics.