Mikaylah Williams Leads Six in Double Figures as No. 9 LSU Rolls Past McNeese 100-43

BATON ROUGE, La. Three games, three triple-digit nights. LSU put six players in double figures, owned the paint 42-4 and beat in-state guest McNeese 100-43 on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Senior Mikaylah Williams led the No. 9 Tigers with 17 points and eight assists, and she closed the night by hitting a 3 at the final buzzer to make it an even 100. LSU (3-0) has now scored 129, 131 and 100 points in its three games. McNeese fell to 2-2 in its first road game of the season and its first game against a ranked opponent since it faced No. 22 West Virginia last November. A crowd of 9,202 was on hand at the PMAC.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab), LSU's recap (opens in a new tab) and McNeese's recap (opens in a new tab).

A fast start, then a fight

LSU did not waste time. The Tigers ran out to an 11-0 lead in the first five minutes, with sophomore ZaKiyah Johnson scoring six of those points, and McNeese did not get on the board until 5:03 remained in the opening quarter.

To the Cowgirls' credit, they did not fold. LSU pushed its early lead into the teens, but freshman Carley Hamilton and senior Sarah Taub hit back-to-back 3s late in the quarter, and McNeese trailed only 18-10 after one. For a team that had lost 82-59 to Louisiana Tech two days earlier, an eight-point deficit against a top-10 team was a respectable start.

The second quarter is where the gap opened. By the media timeout LSU led by 14, with Johnson and senior MiLaysia Fulwiley at eight points apiece. Senior Noa Morro then came off the bench and lit it up, scoring nine points in seven first-half minutes with a pair of 3s. LSU shot 19 of 35 in the half and took a 48-26 lead into the break.

Those 26 points were the most LSU had allowed in a half this season, per McNeese, a small badge for a Cowgirls team that made six 3s before halftime. The trouble was that six of McNeese's eight first-half field goals came from beyond the arc. The Cowgirls were 8 of 32 overall in the half and could not get anything at the rim.

The third-quarter squeeze

Whatever adjustments McNeese made at halftime, LSU had an answer first. The Tigers opened the second half on an 11-0 run before sophomore Matilde Motta stopped it with a 3. LSU kept going anyway, and a 17-5 burst pushed the lead to 65-31 by the media timeout. Six different Tigers scored in the quarter, and LSU took a 75-37 lead into the fourth.

The final 10 minutes were the most lopsided of the night. LSU outscored McNeese 25-6, and Williams' buzzer-beating 3 put a bow on a 57-point win, the Tigers' largest lead of the game.

Mulkey's depth chart

Head coach Kim Mulkey has a crowded rotation, and the minutes on Tuesday showed it. No Tiger played more than 31 minutes, and the bench scored 41 of LSU's 100 points by the box score.

Mulkey said afterward that depth gives her a chance to develop players, and used freshman Lola Lampley as the example. "When you have a little bit of depth, you can develop players," Mulkey said. "Not in roles you want them to play, but I can only have five out there at a time."

Mulkey added that Lampley had hit two 3s partly to prove a point with Morro back in the mix, but that she recruited Lampley to chase offensive rebounds. "She is playing so unselfish right now," Mulkey said, comparing Lampley's role to the inside work Johnson did as a freshman last season. "There are a lot of options, there's a lot of weapons there."

Lampley finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes, going 4 of 8 from the field and 2 of 4 from deep. Fellow freshman Anna Minaeva was perfect, 4 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 at the line for 10 points, with five rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes. Morro finished with 12 points in 13 minutes, all three of her field goals coming from 3.

Who carried the load

Mikaylah Williams did a little of everything. Beyond the 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting, she had eight assists, three rebounds and no turnovers.

Johnson was the most efficient scorer on the floor, finishing 7 of 9 for 14 points with eight rebounds. Fulwiley filled the stat sheet in 23 minutes: 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and four blocks, with no turnovers.

Senior Jada Williams just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points, 12 rebounds and six assists in a team-high 31 minutes. Laila Reynolds added seven points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench, and Grace Knox scored six.

The numbers that tell it

LSU shot 36 of 65 from the field, 55.4 percent, made 9 of 25 from 3 and went 19 of 28 at the line. The Tigers outrebounded McNeese 55-26, including 43 defensive boards, which meant McNeese almost never got a second look. LSU had 25 assists on 36 made baskets, eight steals and eight blocks, and won fast break points 24-2.

The paint number is the one that jumps off the page. LSU scored 42 points inside. McNeese scored four. The Cowgirls attempted 44 3s on 66 total shots and made nine, leaving them at 19.7 percent from the field and 20.5 percent from deep. They went 8 of 10 at the line but did not record a block.

Fifth-year guard Valencia Fontenelle-Posson was the only Cowgirl in double figures with 10 points, the third time in four games this season she has reached double digits. Sophomore Laura Martinez scored a career-high nine points, all in the first half, on three 3s. Motta and Hamilton added six each, though Hamilton had a difficult night at 1 of 12 from the field with six turnovers.

What comes next

The three-game run has been historic. LSU opened with a 129-35 win over Southeastern Louisiana, then beat Texas Southern 131-22 in a game LSU billed as the largest margin of victory in Division I history. Tuesday's 57-point win looks almost modest next to those, but it came against a McNeese team that competed for a quarter and shot the ball from distance with some confidence early.

LSU also had news off the court on Wednesday, announcing the signing of Caroline Bradley, an in-state prospect the school called the nation's top center.

The tests will get tougher, but not right away. LSU hosts Denver on Friday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. CT at the Maravich Center on SEC Network+. McNeese, under first-year coach Ashton Feldhaus, hosts Biblical Studies on Friday, Nov. 13, then visits Tulane on Monday, Nov. 16.

The last time these programs met, in December 2023, LSU won 133-44. This one was closer on the scoreboard, and McNeese can take something from a first quarter that stayed within single digits. For LSU, though, the bigger takeaway is the rotation. When a team can bring a shooter like Morro and two productive freshmen off the bench, the November blowouts become a chance to sort out the roles that will matter in March. According to LSU, Mulkey's teams there had gone 71-2 in November and December games entering this week, and nights like this are how that record gets built.

For more on the Tigers, visit our LSU team page, and see where they sit in the women's AP Top 25 from Nov. 9.

Sources: official box score, ESPN, LSU Athletics and McNeese Athletics.

Photo: Leah Kelly/McNeese Athletics.