LSU’s Undefeated Women May Finally Be Challenged At Duke Tonight On ESPN

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

Going into the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season, the matchup of preseason No. 5 LSU at preseason No. 7 Duke – a pair of 31-6 and 29-8 teams that each came within a win of the Final Four last season – looked like a premier early season prime time affair.

Well, it’s still in prime time at 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN from 9,314-seat Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, for an SEC/ACC Challenge main event. And LSU is still No. 5 at 8-0 on the season and destroying opponents. But Duke has fallen to 3-5 and out of the rankings with a much more difficult schedule.

“I don’t care that they’re not ranked,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “It would have been helpful, but we’re going to hit the road and see what we can do.”

How rare was this? In overtime, LSU shot 100 percent from the field (4 of 4) and from the line (10 of 10) while Boston College shot .000 (0 of 8) from the field. LSU wins 78-69 at BC.https://t.co/yKYquzMInn

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) December 4, 2025

LSU’s closest game this season was a 101-71 win at Tulane on Nov. 17. It leads the nation in scoring margin by a whopping 59.8 points. The Tigers are also the only team in the nation averaging 100 points or more at 112. They have an 89-point win, 115-26, on Nov. 6 over Southeastern Louisiana, which is located in Hammond, near where Mulkey grew up.

They won their last two games over Marist and Washington State by a combined 225-88 at the Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which was basically a “working” vacation. LSU has set the NCAA record for scoring 100 or more points in a season at eight games.

Duke, on the other hand, has three losses to ranked teams, including two in the top three – 58-52 to No. 16 Baylor, 83-66 to No. 2 South Carolina and 89-59 to No. 3 UCLA.

“I’ve got a lot of talent,” Mulkey said of her team, which has no plans to slow down. “I’ve got a lot of weapons. We want to be aggressive, and we’re going to get beat sometimes when we’re aggressive, particularly on inbound plays.”

LSU has had five or more players score in double digits in all eight games this season. Nine players are averaging 10 points or more – senior guard Flau’jae Johnson (17), junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley (16.1), freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnson (13.5), junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley (16.1), freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnson (13.5), junior guard Mikaylah Williams (13.0), senior forward Amiya Joyner (10.5), freshman forward Grace Knox (10.4) and sophomore forward Kate Koval (10.4).

“I just have enough weapons and enough depth that we don’t worry about getting in foul trouble,” Mulkey said. “Just go play hard, play aggressive. Just stay aggressive. Be a competitor.”